Andrew Painter, pitching for Lehigh Valley IronPigs, could get the call to the Phillies. (Photo by … More
It’s ugly with the Phillies right now. So ugly that a big change must happen to reverse the current trend of ineptitude. The Phils have lost nine of ten. And since winning the first game of a doubleheader against the Braves on May 29, their lead in the NL East has poofed away and now they trail the Mets by 4½ games. They’ve been outscored 48-19 in those aforementioned nine defeats. And worse, they’ve lost their “straw that stirs the drink” in Bryce Harper, who has been placed on the IL with a wrist injury.
Now back to the change. Outside of firing the hitting coach or pitching coach or the manager — or swinging a bonkers trade — the easiest remedy to fixing the Phillies in the short term is to embrace Daycare 2.0.
Over the weekend, the team called up infield/outfield prospect Otto Kemp to replace Bryce Harper on the active roster after Kemp pounded Triple-A pitching for the past two-plus months. And a few days earlier, pitching prospect Mick Abel got recalled from the minors and plugged into the rotation.
Don’t stop with Kemp and Abel. Now, it’s time to bring up stud prospects Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford to fully embrace a youthful vibe and change the energy around a team that has looked as chipper as a gang of pallbearers.
The Phils originally planned for Painter’s MLB debut to be around “July-ish.” Well, close enough. Bring up the kid now and slot his 99-mph heater into the rotation. Here’s a look at that heater and some other dandies:
Adding Painter to the rotation would bring the starter total to seven once Aaron Nola returns from an ankle injury in a couple weeks. That would allow for the Phillies to dispatch a couple arms to a bullpen that already looks zonked. And who might that be? How about Abel and Jesus Luzardo?
Baseball insider Evan Macy of PhillyVoice posed the brilliant move of putting Luzardo in the pen, saying: “The lefty can dial up his fastball to the high 90s, and started his career in the Athletics’ bullpen. Could a move to a late-innings reliever be a possible lift for the relief corps?”
Luzardo is also groping for clues after suffering through two historically bad back-to-back starts in which he gave up 20 runs in 5⅔ innings. Allowing him to cut loose on his blazing fastball for one-inning stints could be the answer for both him and the team.
Crawford, meanwhile, is peaking right now. In his last 18 games, the 21-year-old kid is hitting .408 with 11 stolen bases. Overall against Triple-A pitching this season, he boasts a .349 average and has 23 swiped bags while playing supreme defense in the outfield.
Crawford could eliminate the team’s dreadful CF platoon (Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas) if his unbelievable reverse splits carry over to the big leagues. The left-handed-hitting Crawford is batting .313 against right-handers and .478 against lefties this season. Here’s a look at what Crawford can do:
What outfielder does the team drop to make room for Crawford? Struggling Weston Wilson still has an option and can be demoted to Lehigh Valley. But Philly could also ship out Max Kepler or Marsh to another team for the infamous player to be named later or cash considerations. Both Kepler and Marsh have underperformed all season. And here’s idea: Maybe drop both of them and bring up Crawford and Gabriel Rincones, who has an .825 OPS against right-handed pitching at Triple-A this year and caused a stir during spring training with a couple bombs.
But first things first, now is the time to call on Painter and Crawford; the Phillies have to do something — and Daycare 2.0 may be the easiest remedy.
