What's Next for Cristopher Sanchez After Making WBC History but Struggling

Cristopher Sanchez would have been in play for up to four innings on Friday night for the Dominican Republic against Nicaragua in its first game of the World Baseball Classic.

The Phillies' stud left-hander lasted only 1⅓ innings, though, needing 43 pitches to record four outs. Sanchez faced 12 batters from Team Nicaragua and allowed six hits — five singles and a double. He walked one (Mark Vientos) and struck out four, leaving with his team trailing by a run.

All four of Sanchez' strikeouts came in the first inning, the first reaching base on a dropped third strike. He became the first pitcher in WBC history to strike out four in an inning.

History for Cristopher Sánchez 👏🇩🇴 pic.twitter.com/OIU5W3OWXT
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 7, 2026

The second inning was much rougher. Sanchez was visited by pitching coach Wellington Cepeda and eventually pulled by Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols after being greeted by three straight hits and a lineout.

The move worked as Dominican Republic relievers recorded 13 consecutive outs en route to a 12-3 blowout win.

"Maybe he didn't have the best performance he wanted to have," Pujols said postgame. "At the same time, he wrote history today. He struck out four hitters. So you have to look at the positives.

"These are the emotions of the first game in this kind of tournament. That first inning, I was looking at Cristopher, he never lost his calm, and he was able to strike out four players."

Pulled after four outs

Pujols inserted right-handed reliever Huascar Brazoban for Sanchez to finish the top of the second, beginning with a matchup against Brazoban's Mets teammate, Vientos. The third baseman is by far the best hitter on Nicaragua's roster and has a history with Sanchez, having doubled, homered and walked against him in three plate appearances in the 2024 NLDS.

"You know, we have a healthy rivalry," Sanchez said on Thursday. "I'm going to go out and compete, to try to perform and execute my game plan."

The limit in pool play is 65 pitches. Sanchez didn't come close to that mark but did have a highly stressful two innings, especially considering the stakes of the WBC. For most players and most countries, this is equivalent to October baseball.

"It happens quick," Bryce Harper said when asked before leaving Phillies camp about switching his mentality from exhibition games to must-wins. "You'd better hurry up and flip it because it's going to be really tough. Guys are going to come in ready to go, pitchers will be ready to go, guys who have been playing Winter Ball all offseason in Latin American countries.

"It's going to be real and it's going to happen real quick."

Harper and Kyle Schwarber are playing for Team USA and went a combined 3-for-9 with three walks in a blowout win of their own Friday night over Brazil.

Inside the outing

Sanchez threw 18 sinkers, 15 changeups and 10 sliders for his 43 pitches on Friday night. The sinker averaged 94.8 and maxed out at 96.8. In his start against the Blue Jays last Saturday, Sanchez' sinker averaged 95.0 and maxed out at 97.6.

Of the six hits he allowed to Nicaragua, three were on sinkers, two on sliders and one was on a changeup. Three of the four K's came on sliders, his third-best pitch.

"The sinker was not good, but the [slider] was perfect," Pujols said.

What's next for Sanchez?

If the Dominican Republic advances in Pool D as expected — the other four clubs are Venezuela, Nicaragua, Israel and the Netherlands — Sanchez could start a game in the next round. He would seem unlikely to be used again in pool play because he would be on normal rest only once more in this round, on March 11 against Venezuela. If that's not a do-or-die game, Sanchez could be saved for the quarterfinals, which begin on March 13.

The only benefit to pitching Sanchez again in pool play on March 11 would be that it would line him up to pitch the championship game on March 17, should the DR advance. If he doesn't pitch again until March 13, he would be on short rest for the championship and likely unused.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said after Sanchez' one start in Phillies camp last Saturday that the team will "read" and react based on how his first WBC start goes. Major-league clubs are in communication with the coaching staffs of WBC teams to chart paths that work for both sides.

It has been unclear to this point how many starts Sanchez will make for the DR. Tarik Skubal of Team USA, for example, announced himself before the tournament that he will make just one start (ahead of a contract year).

"So far, I am available," Sanchez said on Thursday. "I am 100 percent with my team all the way."