Cristopher Sanchez wins NL Pitcher of the Month for May, Aidan Miller to Undergo Back Surgery
May 27, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (61) celebrates after pitching during the seventh inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
There were two key headlines on Wednesday afternoon highlighting the Phillies’ successes and setbacks.
After a dominant month of May, the obvious winner for the National League Pitcher of the Month goes to Cristopher Sanchez, beating out Brewers sensation Jacob Misirowski. Sanchez is one of 18 Phillies pitchers to win the award and just the third to win multiple times, joining former Phillie Cliff Lee, who did it in June & August of 2011, and his current teammate, Zack Wheeler, who did it in May 2022 and June 2025.
This is the second time that Sanchez has won the award, after previously winning it in June of 2024. His May was like none other, going 4-0 and allowing zero runs in 39 innings with 45 strikeouts. He broke the previous record of 41 scoreless innings held by a Phillies pitcher since Grover Cleveland Alexander did it in 1911.
During his five starts in May, Sanchez went at least seven innings, and the team went 4-1 in his starts, the only loss coming against Cleveland on May 22. He led the majors in ERA, ranked second in WHIP, ranked third in strikeouts and innings pitched, ranked ninth in opponents’ batting average, and was one of three pitchers to throw a shutout. Here is a breakdown of all his starts in the month:
5/5 vs. A’s 8.0 IP | 3 H | 0 ER | 1 BB | 10 K
5/10 vs. Rockies 7.0 IP | 6 H | 0 ER | 0 BB | 7 K
5/16 vs. Pirates 9.0 IP | 6 H | 0 ER | 0 BB | 13 K
5/22 vs. Guardians 8.0 IP | 4 H | 0 ER | 2 BB | 6 K
5/27 vs. Padres 7.0 IP | 6 H | 0 ER | 0 BB | 9 K
He’s only the second starter in baseball history to allow zero runs in a single month with a minimum of five starts, joining Orel Hershiser, who went 55 innings scoreless back in September of 1988.
He takes his league-leading 1.47 ERA to the mound on Wednesday night when the Phillies battle the Padres at 6:40 p.m.
In other Phillies news, another setback has hit their top-ranked prospect.
The team announced Wednesday that top prospect Aidan Miller has been diagnosed with discogenic pain and facet inflammation in the lumbar spine. He will undergo a procedure on Friday, June 5. He will rest for one week after the surgery, and the Phillies hope to have him back to baseball activities in around 6-8 weeks.
Miller, the top-ranked prospect in the Phillies system and No. 15 on MLB Pipeline’s top 100, has been dealing with back issues since the start of spring training. He was supposed to be called up shortly after the debuts of Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter, but his debut will have to wait a little while longer.
Miller, still just 21, hit .264 last season with an .825 OPS across 116 games between Double A Reading and Triple A Lehigh Valley.
Given the severity of the injury, it’s unlikely Miller will make his debut until the 2027 season. He missed all of spring training due to this issue and was supposed to be a potential replacement for current third baseman Alec Bohm. Miller played through back soreness last season, which caused him to miss the Arizona Fall League.
Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly stated that he started “light baseball activities.” Those baseball activities will have to wait a little longer for the Phillies’ No. 1 prospect.
Andrew Glover
Andrew is in his first year covering sports for Philly Sports Reports. He is a podcaster and a digital content creator. Right now, he is in his second semester at Temple University pursuing a degree in Media Studies and Production. He has a certificate in Broadcast Journalism from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
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