September 21, 2026
John Jones/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Should Cris Sanchez be your 2026 NL Cy Young?
It's looking like there will probably be playoff baseball for the Phillies.
They still have to officially punch their Wild Card ticket, we don't know who they'll be playing, and there's still a chance they can earn home-field advantage for the first round. And once they do, they have to figure out their playoff rotation and more importantly, their playoff bullpen.
A lot is up in the air and this week the final six games of the regular season offer a ton for the Phillies to play for.
Here are some burning thoughts as the six-month, 162-game marathon nears its conclusion in South Philly:
The standings are as tight as they can get in the NL Wild Card. Thanks to their recent 7-10 stretch, the Phillies have dropped to the final NL playoff spot Monday, but they're only one game behind the Padres (with whom they own the tiebreaker) and the Cubs (with whom they do not). If the Phillies finish with a better record down the stretch than either of these teams they'll help improve their match up in the first round of the playoffs. The magic number to clinch — which is essentially Phillies wins plus Diamondback losses — is three. Any combination of those that adds up to three closes the door on the playoff participants.
There are three scenarios in play if they can kill off Arizona:
• If they stay in the 6-spot, they'll play the Braves in the Wild Card round, in Atlanta next Tuesday.
• If they finish the year at least tied with San Diego, but not ahead of Chicago, they'll play the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
• If they can catch both the Cubs and the Padres, they'll host whichever of those teams is the No. 5 seed at Citizens Bank Park in the Wild Card round.
San Diego plays the Dodgers and D'backs this week; Chicago plays the Marlins and Red Sox.
To wrap up the regular season, the Phillies play three games at home against the MLB-best Brewers, and then three against the AL-best Rays. The two presumptive top seeds in the playoffs, what are the odds?
The Brewers series will be the tougher of the sets of games, as Milwaukee is going to have a full-court press on, looking to clinch the top overall seed throughout the playoffs. They have a two-game lead on the Dodgers, so it's likely that all three games in Philly will matter to them. Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola will start Games 1 and 2 and then the Phillies will decide what to do in the finale. It's possible they can clinch a playoff berth before Thursday.
The Rays, in all likelihood, will be a series that features both teams getting themselves healthy and getting rotations in line for the postseason. The Rays have a six-game lead for the best record in the AL, and won't have much urgency in these games. Which will be nice for the Phillies, should they need to win them for seeding purposes.
If the Phillies are able to punch their ticket before this coming weekend, the Rays could give them a chance to test out a few things. Cris Sánchez, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola will start in the Wild Card round. Jesús Luzardo, if he's able to return next week, would probably head to the bullpen alongside fellow starter Andrew Painter. Philly is hoping they can give Painter some experience out of the pen this coming weekend.
Adding those two arms, plus Jonathan Bowlan, who is expected to be healthy and back in the pen, will give the Phillies a much more solid and less worry-worthy bullpen for the playoffs. Alongside the two temporarily converted starters, the Phillies could stick to the relievers they trust: Jhoan Duran, Alex McFarlane, Bowlan, José Alvarado and possibly Chase Shugart and Tim Mayza. Don't expect to see anyone else pitching next week unless a game is well out of hand.
Sánchez has a real shot at NL Cy Young. If his last regular season start was against the Mets Sunday, it's possible his resume is strong enough. It's not a no brainer case, but it's definitely one that will be considered and could land him some hardware. Here's a look at the top candidates – Jacob Misiorowski of the Brewers, Phils teammate Luzardo, Chris Sale of the Braves and Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers:
| Stat | Sánchez | Misiorowski | Sale | Luzardo | Yamamoto |
| W-L | 18-6 | 15-5 | 14-9 | 14-5 | 14-8 |
| ERA | 2.93 | 1.86 | 2.18 | 2.87 | 2.51 |
| WAR | 7.7 | 6.1 | 5.4 | 6.3 | 5.8 |
| K | 221 | 247 | 190 | 221 | 178 |
| WHIP | 1.215 | 0.803 | 0.994 | 1.080 | 0.866 |
| IP | 200 | 169.1 | 157 | 178.2 | 179 |
If Sánchez pitches against the Rays, it could give him one more chance to make a statement. Of course, the Phillies would much rather rest him up to be a workhorse in the postseason.
We'll see what the voters value the most in their NY Cy Young come October.
Just one more interesting thing to watch this week — Bryce Harper has played 156 of 156 games so far. He's played first, he's played left field, and 12 times he was in the lineup as a DH. He's never played all 162 games in his 15-year career.
If the Phillies have nothing to play for the last few days of the regular season, will they — or should they — keep him in the lineup?
SIGN UP HERE to receive the PhillyVoice Sports newsletter
Follow Evan on Twitter:@evan_macy
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
