Phillies urged to move on from Andrew Painter to replace him with Red Sox’s three-time All-Star

Phillies urged to move on from Andrew Painter to replace him with Red Sox’s three-time All-Star originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Among some of the problems the Philadelphia Phillies have run into this year, young right-hander Andrew Painter has unfortunately been among them. Painter, who is expected to be one of the young and bright stars in baseball, hasn't had the best 32.2-inning start to his career.

In his defense, there really isn't much reason to get too upset with 32.2 innings from a 23-year-old, but a 6.89 ERA is definitely not going to do the trick. There have been times when Painter has been excellent, and others when he looks very average.

Due to some of his rough starts, including his most recent one when he threw 3.2 innings, allowing eight earned runs and three home runs against the Athletics, I believe the Phillies will have to go out and make a move for a pitcher like Sonny Gray to get to where they want to be.

“Sonny Gray was one of several high-profile pitching additions in Boston over the winter, but the neglected their lineup and are paying for it in the loss column. There's a decent chance Gray is rerouted halfway through his final season under contract, with a team like Philadelphia — in active turnaround, with momentum in their favor — making a ton of sense,” Christopher Kline of , who believes the Phillies need to replace Painter, wrote.