Philadelphia Phillies manager Don Mattingly has opened up on a moment where one of his star players was clearly miffed.
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez has been one of the most reliable arms in baseball for quite some time now, so you can certainly understand his competitive spirit.
That was on full display during the Phillies' win over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, when he expressed visible displeasure when Don Mattingly removed him from the game with just one out left in the seventh inning.
“Of course, I wanted to stay out,” Sanchez said through an interpreter after the game, via The Athletic. “I mean, 85 pitches. I just wanted to finish that one off.”
Sanchez made it through 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out seven. It was actually one of his better outings of the year, as in spite of owning a 2.90 ERA, he also lays claim to an uncharacteristic 1.512 WHIP.
Nevertheless, Sanchez will surely get those baserunners down as the season progresses, and as far as his fire his concerned? Mattingly fully understands it.
Philadelphia Phillies manager Don Mattingly. Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images.“That’s one thing about guys being upset,” Mattingly said. “I’m never … doing this long enough, guys are competitive and they want to stay in the game. We felt like it was the right spot, not to let anything get started.”
Essentially, Mattingly is perfectly fine with Sanchez showing a little pushback. The manager obviously has the final say, anyway, so Sanchez had to roll with it even if he did not particularly like it.
Mattingly has plenty of managerial experience.
He began his career as a skipper with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2011 and spent five years with the Dodgers, leading them to three straight NL West division titles his final three seasons. However, he was unable to get over the hump in the playoffs.
Mattingly then made his way to the Miami Marlins in 2016, eventually guiding the franchise to its first playoff appearance since 2003 during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. That would prove to be his only winning season in South Beach.
Overall, the 65-year-old — who also had a tremendous playing career with the New York Yankees — has gone 893-950 with four playoff appearances in 13 years.
He was handed a Phillies team that has already dug quite a hole for itself this season, so we'll see if he can lead Philadelphia out of it.
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