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

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 Red Sox 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 FanSided, who believes the Phillies need to replace Painter, wrote.

The Phillies making a move at the trade deadline would be a signal that they still believe they have an opportunity to compete at a very high level. 

As things currently stand, there isn't much reason for them not to believe that, since they've been playing better over the past two weeks. But it's important to look at where they stand in the standings, currently nine games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves.

If the Phillies don't have a chance to make the playoffs, there wouldn't be any reason to even consider making this type of move.

More MLB news:

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• Blue Jays have no reason to call Mets for this two-time All-Star if New York continues to struggle
• Ex-Mets star Pete Alonso not expected to be traded by Orioles despite slow start
• Conflicting reports raises questions about whether Mets are trading Freddy Peralta to Cubs
• Yankees trade proposal moves on from Spencer Jones, Jasson Dominguez, and Carlos Lagrange for a first-ballot Hall of Famer
• Braves trade idea brings in three-time All-Star to pair with Ronald Acuna Jr. in deal that would capture NL East