In his return to Lehigh Valley, Andrew Painter wasn’t spectacular, but he also wasn’t bad. The right-hander, who had been optioned back to Triple-A 11 days ago, made his first start since being optioned out. In the time between starts, Painter threw bullpens and worked with coaching staff on the mental part of the game and in analyzing where things were going wrong for him on the mound.
Sunday against the Syracuse Mets, Painter threw four innings, giving up one earned run on two hits and three walks while striking out four hitters. Painter threw 80 pitches in the game, 44 of which were strikes. While there were no official restrictions on the amount of pitches or innings he would be allowed to throw, with 10 days off the 80 pitches were enough.
“He’s physically strong. He’s in a great spot,” said Lehigh Valley manager Tank Adamson in the days leading up to Painter’s start. “There will be a lot of communication in the organization, but we just want to make sure that he’s ready when his name is called again, which is going to be at some point.”
Painter had what he feels is too much cut on his fastball, which was generally around 96-97 mph. In the outing Painter had put batters in an 0-2 hole only to let them come back to a 3-2 count five times over his four innings. The turnaround led to two of the three walks he issued. The walk to Grae Kessinger saw Painter get ahead 0-1 and eventually work the account to 3-2 when he missed with a sinker to issue a walk. Kessinger fouled off a pair of fastballs in the at-bat.
“I kind of struggled to put guys away. I got to 0-2, then it was 3-2 and walked a couple. Fastball was a little cutty. I thought I had better control of it. But it’s something I have to work out. It’s cutting hard to the pull side,” Painter told reporters after the game.
The one run allowed by Painter came in the third when he walked Kessinger and Hayden Singer, who was down 0-2 early in the at-bat. The 23-year-old rebounded for a pair of strikeouts before Nick Morabito, who also was down 0-2 and moved to 3-2, took a slider to left to give Syracuse their first run of the game.
Facing 17 hitters, Painter threw a first pitch strike to 10 of them, but they were all within the first 11 hitters he faced. He opened with a ball to the final six hitters he faced, which could be part of having had 10 days rest and being not quite in game shape.
Painter’s next start will come in Rochester, most likely on Saturday.
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