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The Philadelphia Phillies may need a rental to replace Andrew Painter, with Sonny Gray of the Boston Red Sox an obvious possibility.

The Philadelphia Phillies have righted the ship after a poor start and look to be a playoff contender once again. There is a major problem, though. Starting pitcher Andrew Painter isn’t helping the Phillies get where they want to go. He’s hurting.

In 2025, Painter was the top prospect in the Phillies system. However, in his first MLB season, it’s a 6.43 ERA in 13 appearances and 11 starts. He’s giving up 1.7 home runs per nine innings and only striking out 7.1 hitters per nine innings.

Under the hood, his numbers aren’t better. Per Baseball Savant, Painter is in the fifth-percentile in Pitching Run Value. His fastball, in particular, has been awful. He’s just fifth-percentile in Fastball Run Value. Breaking Ball Run Value is better at the 26th percentile. Meanwhile, he’s 30th percentile in Offspeed Run Value. It’s been bad.

So, it’s no surprise that there are rumors the Phillies may be looking for at least a short-term replacement for Painter. The best way to do that will be at the Trade Deadline, where the Phillies will have a few different options.

Boston Red Sox SP Sonny Gray Named a Possible Addition for the Philadelphia Phillies

Early in the year, the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies had similarly frustrating starts, and they’d both fire their managers. Where it worked for Philadelphia, things have only spiraled for Boston. Now, the Red Sox are likely headed to a fire sale.

That stood out to Cole Weintraub. Writing for NBC Sports Philadelphia, he explained why veteran Sonny Gray would make sense for the Phillies as a rental to replace Painter.

“The 36-year-old does not make the Phillies any younger, but if the front office believes its clearest path to a championship is shutting teams down, this is the kind of move it could consider. Gray has been sharp in his first year in Boston after being traded there from St. Louis in the offseason. He has a 3.03 ERA in 12 starts. He is a different pitcher than the three-time All-Star most are used to seeing. He long leaned on his four-seam fastball, but this year, he has used his cutter about the same amount, even a little more,” Weintraub wrote.

“Gray is producing more groundballs than he has in years and still commands the strike zone well, even while navigating the ABS system with lower velocity. Boston has been a paltry 28-39 club and had to send out three prospects in the winter to acquire Gray, so he would still cost a fair amount. The longtime hurler also has a mutual option for next season at $30 million, which essentially makes him a rental. It would be hard to picture any suitor being satisfied with a 37-year-old making that kind of money, but teams would be happy if Gray became the missing piece in their rotation.”

Sonny Gray is a likely rental option because of his veteran experience and his contract. This year, he’s on an $11 million deal. In 2027, he has a mutual option for $30 million. So, it’s a safe bet that he’ll hit free agency instead of having his club pick up its side of the option.

“A move of this nature would speak to how aggressive the Phils want to be, not only in getting to the postseason, but in building a staff that can win there,” Weintraub concluded.

Andrew Painter on What Needs to Change

In an ideal world, the Phillies won’t have to trade for a pitcher. Ideally, Andrew Painter figures it out, and the Phillies feel like they can trust him in the second half.

If there is a silver lining, Painter believes he knows where to attack those adjustments. It starts with throwing more strikes.

“You know, I made a couple of adjustments. I made some bad pitches out there in the third to give up homers, but I kinda just have to dig deep and go at guys, be aggressive in the zone. It wasn’t a whole lot of hard contact. A couple of bloops here and there. But, you know, outside of the homers, but just got to be more aggressive,” Painter said.

“Just command. It’s a tough way to start the game. You walk [three of the] first four hitters of that game, you’re really not giving yourself a chance. Just got to be better commanding the ball and be a little more aggressive in the zone.”

Painter has given up five home runs in his last three starts. Prior to that, he had seemingly gotten on track, giving up just five runs in a three-start span. If he can get back to that type of success, he could turn his season around.