Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez ups his velocity in a sharp spring debut vs. Rays

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Cristopher Sánchez walked off the mound at Charlotte Sports Park after two scoreless innings Tuesday and shared a laugh with Phillies manager Rob Thomson, jokingly asking to go back out.

“I was just joking with him, because he told me yesterday that anything that happened, it was going to be two innings,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter.

The lefty was in good spirits after his spring debut in a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, allowing one single and striking out three — including Curtis Mead, the former Phillies prospect Sánchez was traded for in 2019.

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The Rays’ spring training home isn’t equipped with StatCast, but the scoreboard radar gun clocked Sánchez’s fastball between 97 and 99 mph. Last season, Sánchez’s fastball averaged 94.5 mph. He said his velocity in bullpen sessions and live at-bats this spring has been sitting at 96-97 mph, a byproduct of the work he put in this offseason on strengthening his body.

“I think that I’m mature enough now to throw hard and also locate in different points in the strike zone as well,” Sánchez said.

Sánchez also tweaked his slider over the offseason. The new offering has more horizontal break, moving in on right-handed hitters’ hands and away from lefties.

Who stood out: Edmundo Sosa got the scoring started by driving in two runs on an opposite-field single.

Utility prospect Otto Kemp, starting at first base, drew a walk and hit an RBI double into the left-field corner. Carson Taylor subbed in at first base in the sixth inning and collected two singles and an RBI.

Quotable: “He’s a really mature guy,” Thomson said of Kemp. “We’re just trying to move him around defensively, get him more looks at different positions, but he’s really balanced. He doesn’t get out of the zone much. He uses the entire field, and that’s what we’re looking for. He can hit. This is a pleasant surprise.”

On deck: The Phillies visit the Blue Jays in Dunedin at 1:07 p.m. Wednesday (MLB Network). Joe Ross is scheduled to start.

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Right-hander Devin Sweet was removed from the game with a bruised right triceps after a comebacker deflected off him. “He didn’t look like he was hurt, but it got him pretty good,” Thomson said. “I didn’t want to take any chances with him, so we got him out, but we’ll reevaluate [Wednesday].”