Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez continues to be one of baseball’s best pitchers. Sanchez fired 15 scoreless innings against the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies, striking out 17 and walking just one batter. His efforts resulted in getting National League Player of the Week honors.
Give it up for your AL and NL Players of the Week!
Sanchez started his week with eight scoreless innings against Atlanta, allowing three hits and striking out 10. He followed that up with seven more dominant innings against Colorado, with seven strikeouts. The Phillies won those two games by a combined score of 15-1.
After finishing second in the National League’s Cy Young Award race in 2025, the Phillies ace has picked up right where he left off. Through nine starts, Sanchez is 4-2 with a 2.11 ERA. His 2.0 fWAR leads all National League pitchers and is second only to the New York Yankees‘ Cam Schlittler (2.4). He is currently on a 20.2 consecutive scoreless inning streak.
With the All-Star Game looming, the left-hander has put himself on a short list of pitchers in consideration to start the game. This year, it’s a rather easy choice to make.
Cristopher Sanchez Makes Case to Start All-Star Game
With the 2026 MLB All-Star Game being hosted by Philadelphia, Sanchez is now the frontrunner to start the game. The decision will come down to Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, but the Phillies’ ace has a slam-dunk case.
Sanchez’s track record since the start of 2024 stacks up favorably compared to any other starter in MLB. The left-hander is second only to Tarik Skubal, who won back-to-back American League Cy Young Awards, in fWAR. With Skubal recovering from an elbow procedure, Sanchez will eventually pass the Tigers’ ace in that metric.
AT of Just Baseball posted on X how dominant the Phillies left-hander has been since his 2025 breakout.
257.1 IP: 1st 2.41 ERA: 3rd 181 ERA+: T-2nd 58.7 GB%: 2nd 2.97 xERA: 3rd 8.4 fWAR: 1st 10.6 bWAR: 1st
Sanchez is a lot closer to being the best pitcher in baseball than many people think
Considering the host city and Sanchez’s dominance the last season-plus, it’s a relatively easy choice for Roberts to make.
Can the Phillies Turn Their Season Around?
The Phillies got off to a miserable start to 2026 under Rob Thomson. After losing 19 of their first 28 games, the club relieved Thomson of his managerial duties and named bench coach Don Mattingly as the interim manager.
The team has experienced a remarkable turnaround under the former Dodgers and Miami Marlins skipper. Philadelphia is 10-3 under Mattingly and has climbed out of the National League East’s basement.
Much of that can be attributed to the strong performances from Sanchez and the rest of the Phillies’ rotation. Since April 28, they are 11th in ERA (3.52) and first in expected ERA (2.82). That includes some uneven performances from fellow left-hander Jesus Luzardo and unfortunate growing pains for top pitching prospect Andrew Painter.
Sanchez himself has gone the extra mile to fuel this turnaround. Over that stretch, he’s allowed a total of two runs. That came in the first inning against the San Francisco Giants on April 30.
With Sanchez and the Phillies rotation seemingly turning it around overnight, their season is still very much alive. Catching up to the Braves, who own MLB’s best record, might not be in the cards for this season, but they could repeat the 2022 season. That year, they replaced Joe Girardi with Thomson and turned a hot October into a World Series trip.
Phillies $104 Million Ace Crowned National League Player of the Week