Phillies' best newcomer has been Andrew Painter for strikeout reason
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Phillies' best newcomer has been Andrew Painter for strikeout reason originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia Phillies ended their offseason with plenty of fans worrying about the team "running it back." With Alec Bohm not being traded and J.T. Realmuto back, there were palpable concerns about the Phillies.
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With the brutal 8-14 start to the season, those concerns seemed to have weight to them. However, even with the struggles to begin the year, the Phillies did add a few new faces to the roster that have had varying results.
The best of the newcomers, according to Tim Britton of The Athletic, is right-handed Andeew Painter. Britton revealed why, and it has to do with Painter's strikeout production despite his 4.42 ERA.
Andrew Painter is best Phillies newcomer for strikeout reasons
"Best newcomer: Andrew Painter," Britton writes. "Painter hasn't gone deep into games, but he's kept the Phillies in each start, and you'll take a five-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio from anyone, let alone from a 23-year-old rookie's first month in the Majors."
The Phillies are off to a bad start as a team, but so far in the MLB career of Andrew Painter, things aren't going too badly.
Sure, his 4.42 ERA isn't great, and he would ideally be making it deeper into games than he is right now, but Painter's production to begin the year in his first month has been fine.
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Adolis Garcia, Justin Crawford, Jonathan Bowlan, and Brad Keller have all struggled a bit this season, though Crawford was the likely runner-up for the best newcomer award for the Phillies so far.
But Painter, as a starting pitcher who's gone 18.1 innings with 20 strikeouts and four walks so far in his career, has been the best new player on the roster this season.
The 2026 season is off to a brutal start for the Phillies, and there's ample reason to be concerned about their playoff odds. But, if nothing else, Painter looks like a solid starter, and the fans should be confident in him going forward.
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