Cristopher Sanchez Named National League Starting Pitcher for 2026 All-Star Game
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
The National League All-Star team has a starting pitcher, and the man they’ve chosen knows a thing or two about succeeding at Citizens Bank Park.
First reported by MLB Insider Jon Heyman, Phillies left-handed pitcher Cristopher Sanchez will be the National League starting pitcher for the 2026 All-Star Game in Philadelphia. Sanchez was named an All-Star just one week ago for the second time in his career.
Sanchez will be the first Phillies starting pitcher to start the All-Star Game since Roy Halladay in 2011, and the sixth ever Phillie to start the game. This will be the first time since 2022 that a pitcher will start the All-Star Game in his home ballpark, with Clayton Kershaw being the most recent occurrence when he started for the National League at Dodger Stadium. Sanchez will be just the eighth pitcher to start the All-Star Game in his home ballpark since 1961.
2026 has been a tremendous season so far for Sanchez, as through his 20 starts in the first half of the season, the lefty has posted an 11-4 record with a 2.62 ERA over an MLB-most 127.1 innings pitched. He has also tallied 144 strikeouts on the season, the third most in the league and the second most in the National League.
The biggest accomplishment of Sanchez’s season has to be tossing 50.2 consecutive scoreless innings earlier this year. Sanchez set the Phillies franchise record for that stat, breaking an over 100-year record set by Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1991, as well as passing Carl Hubbell for the most consecutive scoreless innings by a left-handed pitcher.
Sanchez then went for the all-time record of 59 innings, set by Orel Hershiser in 1988, but was eventually bested in his seventh start of the streak, finishing at 50.2 innings and placing him fifth all-time.
Not many pitchers deserve this starting nod more than Sanchez, who over the past two seasons has posted a 13.5 WAR, the most any starting pitcher during that time. Sanchez has been the best starter in baseball over the past 17 months, and finally, Sanchez gets a huge honor that he has been unfortunately passed over time and time again.
Last season, Sanchez was infamously snubbed from the All-Star Game and not selected as a replacement, as he was set to start on the Sunday before the game. He would not pitch on just one day’s rest and therefore was ineligible to be named to the team, despite having All-Star Game-worthy stats.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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