It's Time for Phillies to Worry About Cristopher Sanchez

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez has long been a lynchpin in the team's starting rotation, but after his horrific outing against the Houston Astros on Wednesday night, it might be time to sound alarm bells.

Sanchez was shelled for six runs on 10 hits over six innings of work. He didn't walk anyone, but he only struck out three and surrendered a pair of home runs.

That followed a rather uneven outing against the Atlanta Braves on Sept. 4 when he gave up three runs on five hits and three walks in six frames.

Three of Sanchez's last four starts have not been good, and he now owns a 1.21 WHIP on the season. That's pretty high for a staff ace.

Sanchez has allowed 185 hits across 187.1 innings, and he has equaled his career high in serving up 16 home runs. Opponents are batting .255 off of him, which, again, for a No. 1 starter, is fairly worrisome.

I keep coming back to the fact that Sanchez allows a whole lot more traffic than you would expect for a pitcher as dependable as himself.

This really is nothing new for the left-hander, who gave up 182 hits across 181.1 frames back in 2024. But it's becoming more and more problematic.

The Astros took full advantage of the amount of runners they had on base against Sanchez on Wednesday. Good teams in the playoffs will do that, as well.

Sanchez's strikeout numbers are there. But he's getting hit harder than he ever has in his career, and with so many high-powered ballclubs out in the National League, it really makes you wonder just how vulnerable Sanchez will be come playoff time.

The 29-year-old inked a six-year, $107 million extension with the Phillies before the season, which was an absolute steal of a deal for Philadelphia. But is he going to be the ace the Phillies can fully trust in October?

Not if he keeps permitting baserunners at this rate.

Sanchez doesn't have many more regular-season starts remaining to start kicking it into gear. The postseason will be here before we know it. Whether or not Sanchez will actually be prepared is anybody's guess.