Albert Pujols, Cristopher Sanchez Discuss What's Next for Phillies Lefty

Cristopher Sanchez more than made up for a shaky first start in the World Baseball Classic by pitching five brilliant, two-hit scoreless innings with a walk and eight strikeouts on Saturday for the Dominican Republic.

The DR mercy-ruled Korea, 10-0, to advance to the semifinals, where it will battle the USA in an epic clash in Miami on Sunday night.

Sanchez looked like his typical dominant self, though the gameplan on Saturday was to stay away from his bread-and-butter changeup and focus more so on his sinker, also an elite pitch. Sanchez threw 63 pitches and 40 of them were sinkers.

Korea swung at 31 pitches from Sanchez and whiffed at 18. He overpowered their hitters with a combination of velocity and movement they doesn't usually see.

Here is some of what Sanchez and Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols had to say postgame:

Adjusting from last start

"Cristopher is one of the best pitchers last year. The way he prepares, the way he works. He made the necessary adjustments for this game," Pujols told reporters.

"Cristopher did a great job. He pitched five innings, he threw 62 or 63 pitches, so below the 65 he was supposed to pitch. He did a great job. We're very happy about that."

Sanchez was surprisingly hit around by Nicaragua in pool play, allowing three runs on six hits and recording only four outs. But he sure appears to be back on track.

Cristopher Sanchez with a 1-2-3 first inning against Korea! pic.twitter.com/XQYJKCIqnX
— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) March 13, 2026

Tempted to push Sanchez beyond five innings?

"That's it, two hits, and I wanted him to feel well," Pujols said.

"And regarding Cristopher, you saw his performance. You will see him on Opening Day as well. And in his last appearance, he threw 45 pitches. Now we wanted him to pitch for 65, around 65 pitches. And then in the next round he can pitch 80. That was the plan that we discussed with (pitching coach Wellington Cepeda) and (the Phillies), and we promised them that he wouldn't pitch more than 65 pitches."

Next start with the Phillies

Sanchez will stay with the Dominican team but he is done pitching in this year's World Baseball Classic. The championship game is on Tuesday, so even if the Dominican Republic advances past Team USA, Sanchez would still be on short rest in the single-elimination final.

His next start will come with the Phillies, one more tune-up before the expected Opening Day nod at home against the Rangers on March 26.

Sanchez was asked how he felt about ending his tournament in the quarterfinals, before the USA game and potential championship.

"We spoke about that, but that is not going to happen because of the spring training and I have a rigid schedule," Sanchez told reporters. "But I'm very proud, very proud to be here with our team. It's a very special team and to represent my country.

"... I am not leaving, by the way. I am staying here. Representing my country is great. Every time I have the opportunity to wear this uniform, I represent my country. I will do that all the time."

The plan vs. Korea

"My mindset was to attack with a sinker ball. I used breaking balls and sinkers. That was my game plan.

"I had never faced a Nicaraguan team. If you compared that game with today's game, the teams are different. The plan was different. We put together the game plan that I tried to execute well, and I did it."

His message to the youth

Sanchez never expected to be in this position. Everything in his career clicked in the summer of 2023 and he transitioned from being one of the many hard-throwing but wild pitchers baseball has seen for a century to one of the most effective and important starters in Phillies history.

The only two starting pitchers who arguably outperformed Sanchez in 2025 were the two Cy Young winners, Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal. Sanchez finished second in the NL race to Skenes by giving the Phillies a 2.50 ERA in 202 innings with 212 strikeouts, 44 walks, just 12 home runs allowed, a .227 opponents' batting average and the fourth-highest groundball rate in the National League. It was pretty much a perfect modern pitching season.

"I never dreamt about this," he said. "... But my message is yes, of course, education is very important, not only in baseball. Chase your dreams. Education is key. That would be my tip, my advice for them."

He'll likely realize his next dream on Opening Day, when he's given the ball in front of 43,000 baseball-starved Phillies fans who hope this year is the year.