From Grind to Glory: The Unexpected Path of the Phillies’ Game 1 Starter

Few people know that Cristopher Sanchez has been playing professional baseball for 13 years. His path to becoming a major league starter was by no means an easy journey. But right now, the long and windy road Sanchez traveled isn’t what matters; it’s the destination that is important, and Phillies fans across the region are glad that Citizens Bank Park is where Sanchez gets to call home.

For Cris, it started at the age of 16 when the Tampa Bay Rays signed him out of the Dominican Republic for a whopping $65,000 to play for the Rays’ Dominican Summer League team. He spent three seasons playing overseas, and the future was riddled with uncertainty for the young left-hander. In his first two seasons in the Rays’ organization, he posted a 5.53 ERA.

From there, Sanchez finally broke his way into the minor leagues in America, but across every level he played at, adversity was always an early theme.

In his first year in the Appalachian League, Sanchez posted a 10.01 ERA. The next season, he posted a 4.50 ERA in 52 innings of Rays rookie ball.

Then, in 2019, things started to turn around for Sanchez. He began his season with the Bowling Green Hot Rods, the Rays’ high-A affiliate. After 11 strong appearances — some as a starter and others as a reliever — he earned a promotion to the high-A Stone Crabs, where, once again, Sanchez put up impressive numbers, finally changing the narrative that slowed his progression through the minor leagues.

The most notable day of Sanchez’s career came on November 20, 2019. In exchange for minor-league second baseman Curtis Mead, Sanchez had been traded to Philadelphia.

But after reporting to Spring Training for only a few weeks, Sanchez was faced with a new type of adversity: COVID-19. Baseball shut down, and when the lefty was finally on the brink of a potential major league debut, the entire league was put on pause.

Once the MLB season got underway, Sanchez reported to the Phillies’ alternate training site, where he trained during the 2020 MLB season. The MiLB season, of course, was nonexistent.

It was June of 2021 when Sanchez finally got the phone call that every minor leaguer awaits. He was going to make his debut with the Phillies. He only threw 12.2 innings that year and allowed seven earned runs on 16 hits. It was not enough to earn him a permanent roster spot.

The next season was rinse and repeat. He posted a 5.63 ERA in 40 innings of work. He did not have a defined role, and a rough August and September did not help his case for 2023. After a competitive Spring Training, he fell victim to injury. On March 27, mere hours before the start of the season, Sanchez was placed on the injured list with left triceps strain.

Once again, a roadblock.

On April 22, Sanchez got his first opportunity of the 2023 season. He made a spot start against the Colorado Rockies, allowing three runs in 4.1 innings. The next day, he was back in Lehigh Valley.

Now, it was June. The Phillies had another hole in their rotation, so they gave Sanchez yet another opportunity. And ever since June 17, 2023, Cristopher Sanchez has solidified himself as one of baseball’s best pitchers. He threw four scoreless innings the day he was recalled, and by the end of July, he boasted a 2.66 ERA through nine starts.

For the past two-and-a-half seasons, Sanchez’s dominance has been a constant.

He made the all-star team in 2024 and finished the year with a 3.32 ERA in 31 starts. Phillies fans were beyond impressed. The following season, Sanchez, who averaged a fastball velocity of 92.1 mph in 2023, showed up to Spring Training with a fastball that touched 99 mph, and his success mounted.

This season, Sanchez has been beyond impressive. He posted a 2.50 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 32 starts, striking out 212 batters in 202 innings. Crucial in playoff baseball, his 5.5% walk rate is among the best in baseball. His ERA was the third-best in the National League, and he was just four strikeouts short of matching presumptive Cy Young Award winner Paul Skene’s season total.

Of course, with Zack Wheeler out for the year, Sanchez gets the nod in game one of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite how far Sanchez has come in his 13-year journey, he claims that there are no added nerves ahead of game one.

“We love Sanchie,” Phillies’ catcher J.T. Realmuto told the media. “He’s just got so much confidence in what he does that he’s not too worried about the opposing team.”

There’s no doubt that the Phillies are challenging their interim ace. Frankly, “interim” may not even be the appropriate term anymore. Some may argue that teams can only have one ace, but when you have guys like Wheeler and Sanchez, it’s clear they have defied the odds.

Get new articles emailed right to your inbox.