The All-Star selections have been announced and the Phillies have 7 players selected. Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, Ranger Suarez, Zack Wheeler, Matt Strahm, and Jeff Hoffman have all been named All-Stars. It feels strange in a year where the Phillies have a franchise record in players named to the All-Star game to say that there would be a snub, but the reality is Cristopher Sanchez was snubbed from the All-Star game.
Sanchez has quietly been one of the league’s most best pitchers in the best rotation in all of baseball. The Phillies lefty has one last start before the All-Star break against the Dodgers on Wednesday night, but through 17 games has pitched to a 2.96 ERA with a complete game shutout. Before a clunker on Thursday against the Cubs, Sanchez had three consecutive games of 7 innings pitched and no Earned Runs.
Cristopher Sanchez was optioned to the minor leagues FIFTEEN TIMES between March 2020 and April 2023.
Never give up on your dreams. pic.twitter.com/VrERSxr1bO
— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) June 29, 2024
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Sanchez has been so good that the Phillies front office decided to buy out his arbitration years by signing him to a 4-year $22.5M contract with two club options despite less than a full year of pitching at this level. Sanchez burst onto the scene last year after being optioned a total of 15 times since joining the Phillies in 2021, 15 times! The book on Sanchez has been that the lefty struggles with command, but since coming back up last year he has only walked 43 batters in almost 200 innings.
Cristopher Sánchez, Dirty 87mph Changeup.
7th K pic.twitter.com/VOrkpHkW1N
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 28, 2024
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Sanchez is 6th in the National League in ERA among qualified pitchers, 2nd in FIP, and 4th in WAR. The numbers back up just how good the lefty has been, the team around him has just been so good that It’s difficult to warrant more than 7 representatives from one team. Sanchez is just a victim of the circumstance.
The other issue with the MLB’s All-Star selections is that every team no matter how bad gets a representative, if you recall Pat Neshek for the 2017 Phillies. It’s still very possible as players opt out that Sanchez can be named as a reserve, but that does not do justice to just how dominant Cris Sanchez has been this season.
Photo via Charles Fox – Philadelphia Inquirer
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