Phillies' Under the Radar Cristopher Sanchez Concern Surfaces Again

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez certainly wasn't bad during his team's 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

Sanchez went six innings and allowed three runs on five hits, walking three and striking out five. At the very least, he did enough to make the game winnable for the Phillies.

Unfortunately, Philadelphia did not provide him with much run support, and Orion Kerkering surrendered a couple of more runs later.

Sanchez now owns a sparkling 2.58 ERA on the season and is averaging a career-high 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings. His 4.93 K/BB ratio is outstanding, and for the second straight season, he leads the majors in bWAR (7.8).

But the savvy left-hander still has one issue that popped up again on Friday evening: traffic.

Sanchez has permitted 175 hits over 181.1 innings pitched this season. He has certainly had his moments where he has been lights out, but he allows more baserunners than you would expect.

He had a 1.512 WHIP over the first month of the season. He posted a 1.846 WHIP in July. And remember: in 2024, he gave up 182 hits across 181.2 frames.

Sanchez has always been one to allow more traffic than you would anticipate from an ace, and while the 29-year-old typically pitches out of those jams, it could create problems against better teams — like the Braves. Moreover, it could cause issues in October.

Sanchez doesn't typically walk anyone, so his three free passes in six frames Friday evening were a bit out of character. But the hits were pretty normal.

Yes, the southpaw is fanning more batters than ever before, but he is also allowing a hard-hit rate of 41 percent, the highest of his MLB tenure. His soft-contact rate is also just 14.9 percent, meaning hitters are squaring up against him quite a bit.

In the end, it usually works for Sanchez. We're talking about a pitcher who has a lifetime 3.08 ERA, so this certainly feels like nitpicking. But it is a minor concern for Sanchez with the playoffs just around the corner.

Sanchez was dominant against the Los Angeles Angels in his prior outing, but he also allowed four runs on nine hits over 6.2 innings versus the St. Louis Cardinals on Aug. 23. He surrendered just one run against the Miami Marlins on Aug. 17, but he did give up eight hits while walking three.

Again, traffic.

Don't get it twisted: Sanchez is fantastic, and he has been a stalwart in the Phillies' rotation for several years now. But his penchant for creating jams could pose an issue next month.