ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — After the 2019 season, when the Tampa Bay Rays were unable to find a 40-man roster spot for Cristopher Sánchez, the Phillies liked him enough to work out a trade.
There was a lot to like.
For one thing, Sánchez stood 6-foot-5. For another, he threw left-handed. And then there was the fastball that reached 97-98 mph and occasionally scraped 100. As then-general manager Matt Klentak put it, relaying the sentiments of his scouts, “We’re excited about him.”
It took four years — and a massive change to the way he pitches — but Sánchez is finally living up to the potential.
Sánchez was long gone from the game Thursday night when Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner hit RBI singles in the 11th inning to decide a sweep-completing 3-1 victory over the Rays. The Phillies pushed their road winning streak to 12 games, the second-longest single-season run in franchise history.
But in his fourth start since getting a chance to nail down the last spot in the Phillies’ rotation, Sánchez delivered another stellar six-inning outing — and against his former team, no less.
The bar is low for the Phillies’ No. 5 starter. Give them five innings and a chance to win a game, and, surely, they’ll be thrilled.
“Absolutely,” manager Rob Thomson said.
But Sánchez is doing more than that. A lot more.
He would have gone more than four scoreless innings in his first start on June 17 in Oakland, if not for the comebacker to the mound that clipped his left hand. He gave up three runs in five innings June 24 against the Mets and two runs (one earned) June 30 against the Nationals.
“I think the development of the change-up — and a little bit of his breaking ball, too — has improved a lot,” Thomson said. “But if he can throw strikes, he’s got a good chance.”
The Rays figured to be Sánchez’s toughest test yet, what with an entirely right-handed batting order. But he leaned on his sinker and that emerging change-up and didn’t allow a hit until Jose Siri’s leadoff single in the third inning or a run until Isaac Paredes’ leadoff homer in the fifth.
Sánchez overcame a one-out single in the sixth and turned over a 1-1 game to the bullpen. Yunior Marte, José Alvarado, and Craig Kimbrel kept the high-scoring Rays off the board until extra innings, when Matt Strahm delivered two scoreless frames.
The Rays, who have the best record in the American League, were swept for the first time this season. The Phillies, meanwhile, improved to 22-7 since their 25-32 nadir and maintained their hold on a National League wild-card spot.
So much has changed since the Phillies picked up Sánchez that he must have been almost unrecognizable to the Rays officials who knew him back then.
Sánchez had so much difficulty throwing his high-90s heater for strikes that the Phillies turned him into a sinkerballer. He gave up velocity for command and made his major league debut in June 2021.
But Sánchez never emerged as more than a depth starter. He spent most of the last two seasons in Triple-A. Internally, Phillies officials debated whether to move him to the bullpen.
And this season, after straining his hamstring in spring training and starting out on the injured list, he lost his command entirely. He walked seven batters in a Triple-A start on April 30 and five on May 11.
Alvarado vs. Franco
With the go-ahead run on third base and two out in the eighth inning, Alvarado won an 11-pitch duel with Rays All-Star shortstop Wander Franco to keep the game tied.
Alvarado mixed his signature high-90s sinker with cutters, while Franco fouled off six pitches, including five with two strikes. The at-bat ended with Franco lifting a fly ball to right field and spiking his helmet as he rounded first base.
Long ball Hall
In his fourth game back from thumb surgery and a stint in Triple-A, Darick Hall supplied the power the Phillies have missed.
Against a left-handed pitcher, too.
Hall snapped a scoreless stalemate in the fifth inning by bashing a first-pitch sweeper from Rays reliever Jake Diekman into the right-field bleachers. It marked his first homer in the majors since Aug. 16 of last season.
Thomson said Hall will play first base against righty starters, at least until Bryce Harper is ready to move to first. But the more Hall slugs, the more he will play. The Phillies will face lefties Saturday and Sunday in Miami.
