May 28, 2026
In 2019, fresh off the heels of acquiring Bryce Harper and looking to become competitive again after years of basement dwelling, the Philadelphia Phillies — then led by Matt Klentak and Andy McPhail — made a very minor depth transaction, trading prospect Curtis Mead to the Tampa Rays in exchange for a skinny Dominican pitcher who had just one Triple-A inning to his ledger.
Six-foot-six Cristopher Sánchez immediately joined the Phils' 40-man roster, and after the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he made his MLB debut in June 2021. Fittingly, it was 1.1 scoreless innings in a win against the Nationals.
Scoreless innings clearly have become a thing for Sánchez, who has more of them in a row than any other Phillies pitcher ever now.
It's been quite the month for Sánchez, and we decided to devote all five of our weekly five thoughts column to his incredible recent performance.
The last time Sánchez allowed a run to cross the plate under his watchful eye, the date was April 30. Since then, the big lumbering lefty has achieved some spectacular things:
• He's now thrown 44.2 consecutive scoreless innings, a new franchise record.
• He broke the previous mark of 41 innings, set by Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1911.
• He's made five straight starts of at least seven scoreless innings, a franchise first.
• He did not allow a run during the entire month of May.
• He's probably two (or three) scoreless outings from reaching the all-time record of 59 innings, held by Orel Hershiser.
The best pitch in baseball right now is Sánchez' changeup. From a 97 MPH sinker to an 86 MPH changeup, it's nearly impossible to adjust your thinking and bat in time to get a hit. Here's a look at some numbers from Baseball Savant, starting with their "run value" metric. It's a complicated calculation, but essentially it quantifies how effective and valuable any one kind of pitch from a pitcher is. The below rankings are out of 601 qualified pitches (fastballs, curveballs, all of them).
| Category | Stat | MLB Rank |
| Changeup run value | 12 | 1st |
| Expected slugging % | .176 | 12th |
| Whiff % | 49.8% | 9th |
That 12 run value is actually five higher than the next best changeup in the sport, Los Angeles' Walbert Ureña. Aaron Nola's changeup, for what it's worth, is -13.
We'll throw some more stats at you now. It appears that within an already competitive NL Cy Young race, the 2025 runner-up is ahead of the pack.
| Category | Stat | NL Rank |
| IP | 79.1 | 1st |
| WAR | 4.2 | 1st |
| ERA | 1.47 | 1st |
| BB per 9 | 1.8 | 2nd |
| K per 9 | 10.7 | 3rd |
| HR per 9 | 0.34 | 1st |
Sánchez is also one of two pitchers this season to have a complete-game shutout.
Whether his pitching has had a trickle-down effect on the staff, we can't know for sure — but the Phillies' starting pitching has been completely lights out from top to bottom since the streak began.
• Zack Wheeler is 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA over his last five starts, with just 20 hits allowed in 32.2 innings.
• Jesús Luzardo is 2-1 with a solid 2.96 ERA over five starts.
• Rookie Andrew Painter is starting to find his big league footing, with just five total earned runs over his last three starts — two of which lasted six or more innings.
• Even struggling veteran Aaron Nola is pitching better, his six inning quality start (with just two runs allowed) in San Diego Tuesday was one of his better outings this season.
The turnaround is stark, frankly. The Phillies' ERA as a starting staff this season is still 4.12 — that's how ugly things were in April, with Wheeler slow to return from Thoracic Outlet surgery and Taijuan Walker getting pummeled every fifth day.
Beyond the individual accolades that Sánchez is no doubt the front-runner to earn (including an All-Star nod and start at Citizens Bank Park in July), the 29-year-old would no doubt trade it all for a championship. The question is, if this continues, can it carry the Phillies to the postseason, or even a World Series run?
The first question is probably tied to the second one. If they're able to grab a Wild Card spot — which they're finally closing in on — having three or even four no-doubt, reliable starting pitchers is a proven recipe for postseason success.
The Phillies' offense has been streaky and inconsistent. In San Diego, they only needed to score 10 runs to secure a three-game sweep. Scoring just over three runs per game is probably not going to get things done. But they've also produced in bunches, like the 23 runs they scored when they swept the Pirates.
If Sánchez, Wheeler and Luzardo continue to dominate, with Nola and Painter providing serviceable pitching when they're called on, it really does take pressure off the offense and it's probably their best — and likely only — path to the kind of success they are expecting to have this season.
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