Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez fires five scoreless innings as he warms up to pitching on the road

BRADENTON, Fla. — Last year, Cristopher Sánchez was almost a completely different pitcher when he started at Citizens Bank Park compared to when he started on the road.

The lefty posted a 2.21 ERA in 17 starts at home and a 5.02 ERA across 14 road starts in 2024. And those eye-popping splits are why Sánchez spoke to the Phillies coaching staff about getting more starts on the road this spring. A 3-2 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday marked Sánchez’s third start away from BayCare Ballpark, out of five altogether.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson doesn’t think the road environment intimidates Sánchez at all. But he pointed toward the different routine as something that could have impacted his splits last season, as the visiting team’s starting pitcher has to sit during the top of the first inning after warming up.

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“The only thing that changes is that you’ve got to sit for a little bit longer, and you don’t know how long,” Thomson said. “And when you’re on a routine, you know exactly when [you’re] coming out of the bullpen at home and when [you’re] going to the mound, whereas on the road, you’ve got to sit.”

If that was the reason behind his numbers, Sánchez has so far adjusted well to the road routine this spring. He threw five scoreless innings at Pittsburgh’s LECOM Ballpark on Tuesday, bringing his road ERA to 0.90. Sánchez’s velocity was consistently high throughout his longest outing yet, with his sinker averaging 96.1 mph.

Sánchez, who allowed four hits and struck out two, used an efficient 61 pitches. He threw more in the bullpen after being lifted for José Alvarado to get his pitch count closer to 80.

Zack Wheeler is tabbed to start on opening day in Washington, and Thomson said he hasn’t yet discussed the plan beyond that with his pitching staff. But based on the current rotation schedule, Sánchez is in line to start the Phillies’ home opener against Colorado on March 31.

“It’s a goal for me, and something that I want to accomplish,” Sánchez said of potentially starting the home opener. “And I’m just happy to go out there, happy to compete. And obviously, the thing that gets me the happiest is being able to help the team win as well.”

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Health check: Max Kepler snared a deep fly ball from Pittsburgh’s Ke’Bryan Hayes on the warning track to end the fifth inning. The Phillies left fielder tossed the ball to a fan in the stands, and jogged to where center fielder Brandon Marsh was waiting with his hand outstretched for a high five.

Both outfielders made their returns to the lineup two days after Kepler (bruised lower back) and Marsh (bruised left knee) had exited a Grapefruit League game early.

Kepler and Marsh played seven innings each. Kepler finished 1-for-3 with a walk, while Marsh drew two walks. Thomson said both felt fine.

Who stood out: Nick Castellanos homered on the first pitch he saw from Pirates starter Thomas Harrington, and finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Christian Arroyo, Cal Stevenson, and minor-league call-up Carson DeMartini each singled.

Alvarado tossed a 1-2-3 sixth inning. He threw seven sinkers, averaging 100.6 mph. Orion Kerkering pitched a scoreless seventh, allowing one single and striking out two. He returned for one batter in the eighth and struck out Ji Hwan Bae on three pitches.

Quotable: “It was good to see him hit the ball out of the ballpark and get a base hit, and he asked to come on the trip,” Thomson said about Castellanos. “He wasn’t scheduled to come on the trip. He just wanted to get some at-bats and try to get his timing down. So maybe it helped.”

On deck: The Phillies return home to BayCare Ballpark where Taijuan Walker will get the start Wednesday against the Yankees (1:05 p.m., NBCSP+).