Phillies' Christopher Sanchez Should Be Considered as an Elite Pitcher

Has Philadelphia Phillies starter Christopher Sanchez emerged as one of he best in the game?

Mar 18, 2025; Bradenton, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Christopher Sanchez (61) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates during spring training at LECOM Park. | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

As the Philadelphia Phillies get set to start their series against the Washington Nationals, their starting rotation is about to look a little bit different.

With the expected return of former All-Star right-hander Aaron Nola, the great starting rotation of the Phillies could be getting even better. While Nola had a tough start to the season before he was injured, he has been a great pitcher for many years now, and there is no reason to believe that he won’t bounce back.

Getting a pitcher of that caliber back could be a huge boost for what has already been one of the top rotations in baseball. Coming into the year, it was expected that Zack Wheeler was once again going to be the leader of this staff. While that has proved to be true, there is a lot more talent in the rotation that likely even Philadelphia would have guessed.

As Wheeler tries to keep up with Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Cy Young award race, he’s started to see some competition from a teammate.

Kiley McDaniel of ESPN recently wrote about Phillies starter Christopher Sanchez emerging as one of the best pitchers in baseball with a second consecutive strong season.

“He's the fourth-best pitcher by WAR over the past two seasons combined, so you can expect him to stay on the current track he's on -- asserting himself as one of the best pitchers in the game when it matters, down the stretch and into the playoffs this fall.”

After what was a breakout campaign in 2024, the talented southpaw of Philadelphia has improved so far this season. Last year, Sanchez totaled an 11-9 record, 3.32 ERA, and 1.24 WHIP. While it was a strong campaign, he has improved much so far in 2025.

Is Sanchez Approaching Wheeler Status?

Aug 10, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) throws during the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

This season, he has totaled an 11-4 record, 2.45 ERA, and 1.09 ERA. When comparing him to Wheeler, he has one more win and a slightly lower ERA so far this year.

Even though the right-hander is still the ace of the staff, Sanchez is starting to make this a conversation, and that is an exciting thing for the Phillies. As the team heads into the stretch run and starts thinking about the playoffs, it will likely be Sanchez on the mound for the team in a potential game two of a series.

While there is still a lot of season to be played, Sanchez has already proven that he is one of the best pitchers in baseball after backing up a breakout campaign in 2024 with an even more impressive 2025.