Cristopher Sánchez’s spring is off to a blazing start. Will he be the Phillies’ No. 2?
You never want to blow spring training performances too far out of proportion, but when they look this good, it’s tempting. Cristopher Sánchez threw three innings against the Pirates on Friday, and they were tantalizing. He struck out four while conceding two hits (each of them under 83 mph off the bat) and one run, which scored after Sánchez gave way to Tyler Phillips.
Sánchez’s sinker averaged 97.0 mph, up 2.5 mph from last year. He threw 18 changeups and got an astonishing six whiffs on seven swings against the pitch. He’s throwing his cutter. And have you heard? He’s bulked up.
It’s still spring training, so do with the velocity numbers and the whiff metrics what you will. Baseball Reference measures his average Opponent Quality this spring as something between a Double-A and Triple-A player, so it’s not like he’s facing MLB regulars each plate appearance.
But the eye test? Sánchez is passing it.
https://twitter.com/Phillies/status/1898090082130694425
Sánchez entered spring training as a popular “breakout” candidate, and there would be a compelling case for that if the breakout hadn’t already happened. He ranked seventh in baseball in fWAR last season, posting a 3.32 ERA in more than 180 innings of work and finishing tenth in NL Cy Young voting. It was his first full season in the Phillies’ rotation, but the club had seen enough by late June to give him a four-year extension that’ll pay him $22.5 million over the next four years. At this rate, it’s a staggeringly low price tag.
