Phillies' Rising Star Became Third Starting Pitcher in MLB History To Do This

2024 was a breakout campaign for Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez.

He showed plenty of promise in 2023 when he transitioned into being a full-time starter after being a relief pitcher for a majority of the first two years that he spent as a Major Leaguer.

His production was taken to another level in 2024, earning a spot on the National League All-Star team for the first time in his career.

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Sanchez threw 181.2 innings, including two complete games and one shutout, across 31 starts. He had 153 strikeouts, as his game was predicated more on inducing soft contact and ground balls to avoid damage.

While his production was excellent, there was still another level for his performance to reach based on his skill set and repertoire.

That has been on full display in 2025, especially over his most recent seven-start stretch where Sanchez has produced historic numbers.

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The talented lefty became only the third pitcher in MLB history to have a span of seven starts in which they went undefeated while recording an ERA under 1.50, throwing at least 50 innings, recording at least 50 strikeouts, walking fewer than five batters and not allowing more than one homer.

As shared by OptaSTATS, he has joined some elite company, with the only two other pitchers to reach those plateaus being Hall of Famer Greg Maddux and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw.

Cristopher Sánchez is 1 of 3 MLB pitchers to have a 7-start span with:

undefeated record
sub-1.50 ERA
50+ innings pitched
50+ strikeouts
fewer than 5 walks
no more than 1 HR allowed

The others are Greg Maddux and Clayton Kershaw. pic.twitter.com/BzYca66OFJ
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) July 23, 2025

Accomplishing something that duo did on the mound is incredibly impressive because Maddux and Kershaw are two of the best to ever throw a baseball.

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Sanchez has taken his game to another level in 2025, thrusting himself into the discussion as a National League Cy Young Award candidate along with his teammate Zack Wheeler, Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Logan Webb of the San Francisco Giants.

He has been dominant through his first 20 starts of the campaign with a 2.40 ERA across 124 innings.

His strikeout numbers have gone up, already racking up 134, only 19 fewer than last year, despite 56.1 fewer innings thus far.

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Already with a 5.2 bWAR and his other metrics also being excellent, Sanchez is going to be on the top of several Cy Young ballots at the end of the year if he can keep this up.

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