Phillies’ trust in Cristopher Sánchez endures even with star pitchers still on the market

CLEARWATER, Fla. — It speaks to ownership’s wide-open checkbook, the president of baseball operations’ affinity for star players, and the entire organization’s World Series-or-bust aspirations that the Phillies were linked to nearly every big-name free agent this winter.

And it speaks to their confidence in Cristopher Sánchez that most of those rumors — two, in particular — were largely untrue.

No matter how much unsigned pitchers Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell may wish the Phillies would swoop in with an offer, it remains improbable because of heightened penalties, including draft position, that the team would incur for surpassing the $277 million third tier of the luxury-tax threshold.

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But also because the Phillies are committed to Sánchez, even though the lefty is 27 and has held a place in a major-league rotation for all of four months last season.

“That motivates me a lot to work harder,” he said Tuesday through a team interpreter, “to keep going, and make them trust me every time.”

Why do the Phillies have so much trust in Sánchez?

Start here: He had a 3.32 ERA in 17 starts after getting called up from triple A last June. Among 110 pitchers who threw at least 70 innings after June 15, Sánchez ranked 22nd in ERA, tied with Logan Webb and ahead of Justin Steele (3.33), Corbin Burnes (3.35), Zack Wheeler (3.44), Spencer Strider (3.67), and Zac Gallen (3.72), all of whom got Cy Young votes.

Sánchez didn’t exactly come from out of the blue to join the rotation. But he was little more than a depth consideration last spring. And after demoting Bailey Falter to triple A in May, the Phillies burned through other fifth-starter options — Dylan Covey, reliever Matt Strahm — and used an opener for a while before finally calling up Sánchez to start on a Saturday in Oakland.

“And he kind of saved us, honestly,” shortstop Trea Turner said.

Turner has a unique perspective on how far Sánchez has come. He was the fourth batter of Sánchez’s major-league debut in the eighth inning on June 6, 2021, an at-bat that was memorable only because of what happened after the first pitch.

“Did the net fall down?” Turner said. “That was the day. I was up to bat — and it might’ve been against Sánchez; I could be wrong — when the net fell down.”

He was, and it did.

The support rope to the right of home plate at Citizens Bank Park gave way and the netting collapsed onto the field and into both dugouts. The grounds crew went into overdrive. Remarkably, the game was delayed only 20 minutes.

“Yeah, I remember that,” said Kyle Schwarber, Turner’s teammate with the Nationals at the time.

But Turner remembers Sánchez as a hard-throwing lefty with command issues and deception in his delivery. He uncorked two pitches out of the strike zone to fall behind Turner, evened the count, then struck him out on a full-count sinker.

“I want to say he was 94, 95, maybe a 96 mixed in there, so a little bit harder, a little bit wilder,” Turner said. “Funky [arm] slot. Tall. Good sinker, good changeup. And now, just watching him evolve more from that day to just throwing strikes, he seems more poised and more in control of himself.”

It took three seasons and an overhaul of his pitching style. In triple A, and in brief stints in the majors, the Phillies worked on Sánchez’s mechanics to improve his command at the expense of velocity. Whereas he once threw in the mid-90s, he got by with 92-94 mph but located more consistently.

Sánchez also leaned into his changeup, throwing it more often and making it his primary weapon against right-handed hitters. Last season, it was one of the best off-speed pitches in baseball. Hitters batted .148 and slugged .249 against it.

The changes were drastic. If someone watched Sánchez in 2021 and not again until last season, would he have thought he was a different pitcher?

“Oof, 100%,” he said, and no translation was required.

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“That’s been a way that we’ve come along: less velocity and better command of the strike zone,” Sánchez said. “But I also think I can have the velocity and now the command of the strike zone and be better.”

The Phillies’ pitching brain trust agrees. In his first spring-training start, Feb. 27 against the Twins in Fort Myers, Sánchez cranked up his fastball to 95 mph, according to Statcast. He commanded it, too. In two scoreless innings, all but six of his 19 pitches were strikes.

That’s not all. Sánchez is adding a cutter to help him get through a lineup three times.

Asked why the Phillies believe Sánchez can log a starter’s full workload after throwing 99⅓ innings last season, manager Rob Thomson cited his changeup and improved command, then brought up other areas in which Sánchez has gotten better.

“He did a really good job of maintaining his weight, which has been a little bit of an issue in the past,” Thomson said of the wafer-thin (6-foot-5, 190 pounds) lefty. “Strength department, nutrition department, they did a great job maintaining his weight. That really helped him maintain his stuff, his velocity towards the end.”

There are reasons, then, to stick with Sánchez. The Phillies pushed hard to land Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but even then, it wasn’t clear that he would have taken Sánchez’s spot.

And when the Japanese star left money on the table to sign a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers, the Phillies were largely content to run back the same rotation and expect Sánchez to help make it better by taking another step in his development.

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“There were so many double-play balls by him and so efficient,” Turner said. “That’s what happens when you’ve got a little bit of deception and throw strikes. You might not be punching out 10 a game, but you punch out three, four and go six innings and keep us in the ballgame, I mean, we’ll take everybody doing that.

“He does it a little bit differently now. But to have him at the end of our rotation, I think it’s a huge plus.”

Taijuan Walker could pitch live batting practice Thursday and make his first start Sunday or Monday, according to Thomson. Walker missed a few days of camp last week for personal reasons before his right knee flared up during a throwing session. He threw a bullpen session last weekend and looked “really good,” Thomson said. … Nick Castellanos came down with the virus that’s running through the clubhouse and was scratched from the lineup. … Aaron Nola is scheduled for his third spring-training start Thursday against the Rays in Port Charlotte.

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