Philadelphia Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez's progress toward the starting rotation has been a slow burn since being traded for in 2019. He has earned his way, which in turn proved true last season as he broke through for his first career All-Star appearance. In 181 2/3 innings pitched, he posted an 11-9 record with a 3.32 ERA and 153 strikeouts.
The Phillies' left-hander looked to build on that success coming into 2025 and just four starts in, he's showing enormous growth. Sánchez took the mound Thursday afternoon with a chance of splitting the series against the 13-5 San Francisco Giants. His performance was more than enough to get the job done, with some historic wrinkles mixed in.
Cristopher Sánchez's career-high 12 strikeouts comes with historic wrinkle in Phillies' win
Sánchez was making his fourth start in 2025 and pitching for a chance to settle the minds of the Philadelphia faithful and prevent losing three of four to the Giants at home. He did everything he needed to do.
He went seven innings while allowing four hits, one walk and two earned runs on one home run on 97 pitches. Most notably, Sánchez struck out 12 batters, a new career-high for him. He also picked up his second win of the young season as he led the Phillies to a series split with a 6-4 victory.
The raw numbers are eye-popping, but it's the significance of what Sánchez accomplished. The 12 strikeouts Sánchez accumulated was the most by a Phillies' left-hander since Cole Hamels did so with his 13 strikeout performance in the no-hitter he tossed on July 25, 2015.
Of his 12 strikeouts, 11 were on changeups, the most any Phillies pitcher has had on changeups since 2008. Sánchez had a nasty bite to his changeup all day long, as he also had 22 swings and misses on that pitch alone, per Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia. That is the most swings and misses on a changeup since 2008.
Sánchez spoke after the game about how well the changeup worked for him.
“That’s my changeup,” Sánchez said, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. “My changeup has always been good. It’s just that sometimes I take it with me.”
Sánchez can be a top pitcher in MLB and has the caliber of being a star in the making. Aces have their best pitch and Phillies' catcher J.T. Realmuto knows Sánchez has a good one.
“I kind of feel like it’s always there,” Realmuto said, per Zolecki. “It’s always that good. It’s just if he’s locating it correctly. Usually I can tell that early in the game or in the bullpen, like first inning or two. You can tell if he’s got good location of it or not. But for me, it’s always a plus-plus pitch.”
The outing pushed Sánchez to a 2-0 record with a 2.96 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings pitched on the year. A milestone was met on Thursday, but to Sánchez it was another day to win for his club, which the club has done the last 10 times he has taken the mound dating back to Aug. 22, 2024.
Sánchez will be a vital part of what the Phillies have going for them this season. His increase in velocity along with him painting the strike zone continuously has Phillies fans hopeful that they have a star on their hands. With Sánchez looking so sharp in April, the rest of the season could pave the way for him to get some deserved hardware in his trophy case.