Cristopher Sánchez Pitched a Great Game at the Perfect Time

Cristopher Sánchez exceeded expectations on Wednesday against the Reds, giving the rest of the Phillies rotation a much-needed night off.

Author:
Leo Morgenstern
Aug 25, 2022 6:00 PM EDT

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Philadelphia Phillies

On Wednesday evening, as the Philadelphia Phillies won their third straight contest against the Cincinnati Reds, Cristopher Sánchez reached a major milestone. He pitched six innings for the first time in his big league career.

He also set a career high with seven strikeouts, and he did not walk a single batter. While he gave up two homers, he limited the damage to just three earned runs and walked away with a quality start.

It could not have come at a better time for the Phillies. They are relying on their starting pitchers to lead them to the postseason, but Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suárez, and Kyle Gibson all struggled in their latest outings. That cannot continue to happen.

Each of those four starters has pitched more than 120 innings this year. No other NL team has four starters who have all eclipsed that threshold.

That durability is one reason why Nola, Wheeler, Suárez, and Gibson are all so valuable. At the same time, the intense workload each has shouldered thus far is a little worrying. Pitchers are not machines. They need rest.

So, in an effort to preserve his most important arms, manager Rob Thomson announced Sánchez would be making a spot start this week.

When Thomson made the announcement, many a Phillies fan surely grimaced. The team had just lost three of four to the Mets. They needed to take at least three of four from the Reds to get back on their feet, and Sánchez does not give Philadelphia a better chance to win than any of their five regular starters.

Even so, it seemed like a necessary evil. Nola and Wheeler gave up a combined nine earned runs in their last starts. Both could benefit from an extra day's rest. For proof, one would need look no further than Noah Syndergaard.

Syndergaard pitched his best game since joining the Phillies on Monday, going seven innings and allowing just one run. He did so on an extra day's rest thanks to Bailey Falter's spot start on Saturday.

Coincidentally or not, Thomson announced after the game that Sánchez would start Wednesday, giving the rest of the staff an extra day off too.

With his quality start, Sánchez far exceeded expectations. All he needed to do was take the mound and eat some innings for a tired Philadelphia pitching staff. Instead, he put the team in a strong position to succeed and collected his third career win.

If the Phillies are going to have any chance of making the playoffs – and thriving when they get there – they'll need to preserve their best arms. Thomson made the right decision handing Sánchez the ball on Wednesday, and he was rewarded with a better outcome than he could have asked for.