Cristopher Sánchez

Cristopher Alexis Sánchez

Bats Left, Throws Left
Height 6' 1", Weight 165 lb.

Debut June 6, 2021

Born December 12, 1996 in La Romana, La Romana D.R.

Biographical Information[edit]

Cristopher Sánchez pitched for the Dominican national team before reaching the major leagues in 2021.

He was signed by Tampa Bay Rays scout Daniel Santana in 2013. ^[1] He was 1-3 with a 7.77 ERA and 2.36 WHIP for the 2014 DSL Rays but improved to 2-1, 3.54 and two saves in a return engagement for them the next year. In 2016, he went 5-3 with a save and a 3.06 ERA for the DSL Rays 1, his WHIP now down to 1.12; he did not allow a homer in any of those three seasons.

Coming stateside in 2017, he was hit hard for the Princeton Rays (1-6, 10.01 ERA, .353 opponent average). He tied for 3rd in the Appalachian League in losses. He was 1-0 with a 1.76 ERA for the Perth Heat in the 2017-2018 Australian Baseball League. He split 2018 between Princeton (3-2, 4.60 in 10 G) and the Hudson Valley Renegades (1-0, 5.00 in 2 G). The tall lefty showed good strides in 2019 with the Bowling Green Hot Rods (3-1, 2 Sv, 2.01 in 11 G), Charlotte Stone Crabs (1-0, 1.85 in 12 G) and Durham Bulls (3 R in 1 1/3 IP), with a 2.26 ERA on the summer. After that season, on November 20th, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in return for 2B Curtis Mead.

He then was on the Dominican squad for the 2019 Premier 12. In his only game, he faced Team USA with a spot in the second round at stake. Relieving Bryan Valdez in the 3rd with a 4-2 deficit, he walked Bobby Dalbec, fanned Andrew Vaughn and walked Jake Cronenworth. Alec Bohm then tagged him for a three-run bomb to make it 7-2. He recovered to get Erik Kratz and Xavier Edwards, the latter by K. In the 4th, he retired Mark Payton and fanned Jo Adell but made an error to let Daulton Varsho reach and Dalbec singled in Varsho. He recovered to get Vaughn swinging. After the Dominicans closed it to 8-3, he was replaced by Carlos Pimentel. ^[2]

He went to spring training with the Phillies in 2020 and after the minor league season was cancelled by the Coronavirus pandemic, was assigned to the their alternate training site. In 2021, he started the season with the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs before being called up to Philly in early June and making his debut on June 6th, pitching an inning and a third in relief against the Washington Nationals. He relieved Sam Coonrod in the 8th with a 12-6 lead and retired Jordy Mercer and Victor Robles before Josh Harrison singled, but he then whiffed Trea Turner. He also struck out Juan Soto to open the 9th before Hector Neris replaced him. He went 1-0, 4.97 in 7 games including 1 start in his first taste of the majors. He pitched another 15 games in 2022, with 3 starts, going 2-2, 5.63. The Phillies made it into the postseason and reached the World Series, but he was not part of the postseason roster. In the minors, he was 5-6, 4.68 in 19 games in AAA in 2021, and 2-2, 3.14 in 15 games in 2022. He was almost exclusively a starter when pitching for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

In 2023, he spent the majority of a season in the majors for the first time, with 10 games for Lehigh Valley (he was 3-2, 4.35) and 19 with Philly. He pitched well in the majors, going 3-5, 3.44, with 18 starts and 96 strikeouts in 99 1/3 innings. He was not used in the first two rounds of the postseason but got to make his debut in the NLCS against the Arizona Diamondbacks when he started Game 4 on October 20th and gave up 2 runs (1 earned) in 2 1/3 innings but was not involved in the decision in 6-5 loss. He started 2024 in the Phillies' starting rotation and pitching well. On June 22nd, the Phillies announced that they had signed him to a four-year extension with two additional option years, a sign that the team was pleased with his performance. Indeed, he was named the National League Pitcher of the Month for June after posting an ERA of 1.64 and recording a three-hit shutout over the Miami Marlins, the first of his career, on June 28th. He was named to the 2024 All-Star Game as a replacement for P Chris Sale, who was unavailable under the Sunday Starter Rule; that made him the eighth Phillies player named to the squad. He went 11-9, 3.32 in 31 starts that season, tying for the NL lead with 2 complete games and 1 shutout. He pitched 181 2/3 innings and struck out 153 batters, setting new career highs in all important statistical categories. He started Game 2 of the Division Series against the New York Mets on October 6th and did well, giving up 2 runs in 5 innings before turning the ball over to the bullpen. The Phillies were trailing 2-0 at the time, but the last four innings would be very wild, with 11 runs scored and a number of lead changes before the Mets came out on top, 7-6.

He had another strong first half in 2025, going 8-2 before the All-Star break. He was not named to the National League team for the game, but there were a lot of voices saying that he would have deserved the honor again. In his first start after the break, on July 22nd, he had one of the best games of his career, pitching a nine-inning complete game in which he gave up just 1 run on 4 hits while striking out 12. It was the second time in his last five starts that he had struck out 10 or more batters without walking anyone, having done so on June 26th as well, He earned the credit for a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox. He finished the season at 13-5, 2.50 in 32 starts, with 171 hits allowed in 202 innings, 212 strikeouts and just 44 walks. He finished second in the voting for the 2025 National League Cy Young Award, behind Paul Skenes while leading the NL in WAR (with 8.0), and finishing 3rd in ERA, 7th in wins, 3rd in winning percentage, 4th in WHIP, 2nd in innings and 5th in strikeouts. He started two games in the postseason, both coming against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series; he pitched very well, giving up just 3 runs in 12 innings while racking up 13 strikeouts, but did not have a decision as Philly lost both games.

He was a member of the Dominican Republic national team for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, making two starts during the tournament and earning a win. Just as the 2026 season was about to start, the Phillies announced that they had come to an agreement with him on a six-year contract extension lasting through 2032. He had been signed to a club-friendly contract through 2030, but the new deal acknowledged his new status as one of the top starting pitchers in the game, adding two seasons at a much higher guaranteed salary, as well as an option for two more seasons. He got off to an excellent start, even though the Phillies struggled so much during the early season that it led to the firing of manager Rob Thomson. After 9 starts, he was 4-2, 2.11, then on May 16th he pitched maybe the best game of his career with a complete game shutout of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He allowed six hits but no walks in the 6-0 win, and also struck out 13 batters, a career high. The shutout extended his scoreless streak to 29 2/3 innings, dating back to April 30th, and the win lifted the Phillies to .500 for the first time since early April; they were 9-19 when Don Mattingly had taken over for Thomson as manager on April 16th. He followed his shutout with another great performance, with another 8 scoreless innings, this time against the Cleveland Guardians, on May 22th. That extended his scoreless streak to 37 2/3 innings, the second-longest in franchise history. The only pitcher to have done better was all-time great Grover Cleveland Alexander, with 41 innings in 1911. He reached and passed that number on May 27th with seven more scoreless innings in a 3-0 win over the San Diego Padres. He was now at 44 2/3 scoreless innings, but the all-time record of 59 innings set by Orel Hershiser in 1988 was still a ways away. To no one's surprise, he was named the Pitcher of the Month in the National League for May, his second time winning the honor, although Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers had also had an outstanding month. A few hours after receiving the honor, his scoreless streak came to an end when he gave up 1 run to the San Diego Padres in the 7th inning on June 3rd. The streak had lasted 50 2/3 innings, and the run tied the score, but Philadelphia scored twice in the top of the 8th and Cristopher received credit for the 3-2 win (the second run having been given up by reliever Brad Keller in the 8th). The win improved his record to 7-2, 1.46 after 13 starts, with a K/W ratio of 103/17 in 86 1/3 innings.

Notable Achievements[edit]

NL All-Star (2024)
NL Complete Games Leader (2024)
NL Shutouts Leader (2024)
200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 1 (2025)
200 Strikeouts Seasons: 1 (2025)

Sources[edit]

↑ 2020 Phillies Media Guide, pg. 178
↑ 2019 Premier 12

Related Sites[edit]

[1] 2020 Phillies Media Guide, pg. 178

[2] 2019 Premier 12

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Cristopher Sánchez

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