What Allowed Philadelphia Phillies Rising Star To Record Career-Best Strikeout Total?

The Philadelphia Phillies rising star got some help on Thursday when he had a career-best strikeout total.

Apr 12, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (61) pitches in the first inning at Busch Stadium | Tim Vizer-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies knew the type of talent they had on their hands with Cristopher Sanchez.

It's why they gave him a four-year, $22.5 million contract extension last summer in the midst of what was his first full season of being a starting pitcher at the Major League level.

But the left-hander became a popular dark horse selection for National League Cy Young honors throughout the offseason, with many pointing to his whiff rate and ability to induce ground balls that should only improve with more experience.

So far, Sanchez has delivered upon those expectations.

In four starts this year, he has posted a 2.96 ERA and 134 ERA+ with 31 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings pitched.

That included his career day on Thursday when the Phillies desperately needed a good outing from the rising star to secure a split of their four-game set against the San Francisco Giants after Aaron Nola struggled for the fourth consecutive outing the night before.

Sanchez rung up 12 Giants hitters, the most he's ever produced in a single game in his MLB career.

His fastball sat at 97 mph and his changeup was devastating, fooling batters throughout the contest that allowed Philadelphia to leave the series on a high note.

But, while Sanchez's stuff might have been electric, something else helped him out a ton.

"To be honest, it was kind of tough to see out there. Once the shadows rolled in, it makes it that much harder to be able to recognize spin or offspeed. So that's kind of why we started using it a little more often," catcher J.T. Realmuto said, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic.

That was certainly the case on Thursday.

Out of the 97 pitches he threw across his seven innings, 50 of them were changeups.

And out of those 50 pitches, 22 of them generated swings-and-misses.

All of that allowed Sanchez to have a career day and do something that a left-handed Phillies pitcher hasn't done in a nearly a decade; strike out 12 or more batters. Philadelphia's rising star joined one of the franchise legends on that list -- Cole Hamels had 13 K's during his no-hitter on July 25, 2015.

Sanchez continues to impress, and this outing was just the latest example of his high-end potential, even if the shadows at Citzens Bank Park helped him out on this occassion.