As the regular season wound to a close, Jim Bowden of The Athletic named the top 20 MLB breakout players from the 2025 season (subscription required). A member of the Philadelphia Phillies happens to find himself on the distinguished list. That player is none other than starting rotation stalwart Cristopher Sánchez.
Outside of Philadelphia, Sánchez doesn’t garner as much media attention as one would expect. For someone suddenly putting up stellar numbers in his 2025 campaign, there’s no question it would appear to be a breakout season for such a player. However, for the Phillies and their beloved fans who have followed Sánchez's path and his success so far in the league, his exceptional performance this year certainly comes as no surprise.
Everyone in Philadelphia knew Cristopher Sánchez's breakout as Phillies' ace was coming
After all, the 28-year-old left-hander had been one of the Phillies’ most reliable and consistent arms in their starting five dating back to the 2023 season. In each of the past three years, Sánchez has maintained an ERA below 3.50 and a WHIP below 1.25, all while striking out close to a batter per inning.
Those who have carefully watched his growth and development over time knew that he was going to evolve into a front-end-of-the-rotation option in due time. That time finally arrived this season.
In 2025, Sánchez has posted career bests across various statistical categories, including wins (13), starts (32), innings pitched (202), strikeouts (212), ERA (2.50), ERA+ (176), FIP (2.55) and strikeout rate (26.3 percent). More significantly, he led all National League players, not just starting pitchers, with 8.0 bWAR, cementing himself in the NL Cy Young race.
Cristopher Sánchez exits to a standing ovation after 5.2 scoreless innings 👏
— MLB (@MLB) September 28, 2025
He finishes the season with a 2.50 ERA! pic.twitter.com/qhJGVm4IGK
Taking a look at his advanced metrics, one sees a sea of red as Sánchez ranked above the 85th percentile in xERA, whiff rate, walk rate, barrel rate, ground ball rate and extension. As for his pitching arsenal, a 99th percentile in pitching run value, 96th percentile in fastball run value and 100th percentile in offspeed run value practically say it all for the fast-rising star.
With the struggles of veteran pitcher Aaron Nola this year, along with the shocking surgery for ace Zack Wheeler that ended his season, Sánchez has emerged as the Phillies' No. 1 option in the rotation heading into the postseason. He will look forward to thriving in that role and helping Philadelphia hopefully go all the way in a deep World Series run. By then, when all is said and done, Sánchez won’t be a surprise to anyone anymore.