Cristopher Sánchez of the Philadelphia Phillies enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2024, pitching to a 3.32 ERA and 1.244 WHIP across 181 2/3 innings. Sánchez was tied with American League Cy Young runner-up Seth Lugo for the sixth most valuable starting pitcher in all of baseball by fWAR. He established himself as one of the premier ground ball pitchers in baseball, ranking 3rd among qualified starters. The 27-year-old inked an extension with the Phillies during the season and is entrenched in their rotation for the future. Let’s dig into his arsenal and other statistical elements of his profile.
Cristopher Sánchez Primed to Shine Long-Term for Phillies
The Arsenal
Sánchez opts for a three-pitch arsenal consisting of a sinker, changeup, and a slider. The left-handed starter throws all of his pitches from an above-average 6.1-foot release height. Given all of Sánchez’s pitches break down and move east-to-west, this combined with his higher release height gives him some of the steepest Vertical Approach Angles (VAA) among all pitchers. Furthermore, his trio of pitches were all among the top 20 in the steepest approach angles. This is due to the pitch types utilized as well as how effective Sánchez is at locating these pitches in the bottom third of the zone and below the zone.
Sinker
Sánchez’s sinker averages about 94.5 MPH with 7.5 inches of induced vertical break and 17.8 inches of horizontal break. While it was his most used pitch at 47.3%, it was also his least effective pitch by run value. This was primarily due to the opposite hand teeing off on his hardest offering, as they posted a .417 xwOBA against the sinker. Many sinker ballers understand the platoon splits that sinkers possess, but the trade-offs can be worth it. Additionally, the sinker plays an important role in setting up his elite changeup.
The sinker was Sánchez’s only pitch that struggled against right-handed hitters. In addition, there was another pitch that Sánchez used for a total of three pitches all season that could possibly be an answer for him in the future. That was a cutter, which could conveniently alleviate some of these issues. Now, there is likely a reason he did not throw it all season. Maybe he never felt comfortable with the feel of it and didn’t trust himself locating it. But there is an avenue for him to ramp up the usage a bit this off-season to give him optionality against right-handed hitters. The multiplicity of wielding more than one fastball is a valuable tool for pitchers these days.
Cristopher Sánchez, 96mph Paint. pic.twitter.com/bH7vZe68qf
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 26, 2024
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Changeup
The headliner of Sánchez’s arsenal is his wicked changeup. Thrown 35.7% of the time, it reaches 0.6 inches of induced vertical break with an absurd 17.9 inches of horizontal break. This combination of arm-side run with drop makes it one of the more devastating off-speed pitches in baseball. In fact, it was the most valuable changeup in the league by run value. Its interaction effect with his sinker is notable. At an average of 85.1 MPH, there is nearly a 10 MPH difference between his sinker and changeup. While the horizontal movement numbers are almost identical, the velocity and vertical movement differences are crucial in successful changeups.
The pitch produced one of the highest Chase rates in baseball at a ridiculous 45.1%. This extreme amount of chase can lead to some favorable results. His changeup excelled at generating swing and miss with an excellent 19.2% swinging strike rate while also producing ground balls at a 64.4% clip. So, it was one of the overall best pitches in baseball in terms of suppressing hard and damaging contact, allowing a measly .194 xwOBA.
Cristopher Sánchez, Filthy Changeups. pic.twitter.com/KgjAudH5nm
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 31, 2024
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Slider
Sánchez’s slider proved to be a useful offering for him, as he could utilize it at similar rates against each handedness. His slider parallels the movement characteristics of a bullet slider with -3.2 inches of induced vertical break and a -1 inch of induced vertical break. Averaging 84.4 MPH, it again proved to be a valuable offering from a hard contact suppression perspective allowing just a .270 xwOBA.
The beauty of bullet sliders is they are a platoon-neutral pitch. Another added benefit is that, due to their more minimal movement profile, they are easier to control and command for strikes. With his changeup generating extreme chase out of the zone, he felt comfortable with the slider as a strike-throwing option with almost a 50% Strike%. Added with a 15.6% swinging strike rate, it handled righties well. On the other hand, the slider dominated lefties too, with a 16% swinging strike rate and 70% ground ball rate.
Cristopher Sánchez, Dirty 85mph Slider.
7th K pic.twitter.com/EmMoa7DiBy
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 15, 2024
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Room for Development
An oddity for Cristopher Sánchez’s otherwise breakthrough season was his home and road splits. Strangely, Sánchez was a totally different pitcher based on the location of the game. Here are some noteworthy differences in his performance:
Home | Away | |
ERA | 2.21 | 5.02 |
WHIP | 0.97 | 1.66 |
FIP | 2.54 | 3.70 |
xFIP | 2.75 | 3.87 |
K-BB% | 19.3% | 8.2% |
BABIP | .277 | .358 |
wOBA | .241 | .354 |
xwOBA | .257 | .342 |
While there may be some concerns over these splits, it seems far too noisy to weigh a ton. In 2023, his home ERA was nearly two full runs higher than his away ERA. The Phillies considered this in making their playoff rotation decisions, but it should not be a big future concern.
A major improvement that Sánchez displayed in 2024, and importantly maintained throughout the course of the season, was an uptick in velocity. Across the board, the lefty showed significant velocity increases. While showcasing added velocity is impressive, the important piece of information is seeing how he maintained it as his workload increased. Here are his improvements from 2023 to 2024 in velocity:
2023 | 2024 |
Sinker – 92.1 MPH | Sinker – 94.5 MPH |
Changeup – 81.8 MPH | Changeup – 85.1 MPH |
Slider – 82.7 MPH | Slider – 84.4 MPH |
2025 Outlook and Comparison
Every player is a unique case. We can group players into these cohorts that have specific things we are looking for in order to compile statistically similar players. An interesting comparison and ceiling case for Cristopher Sánchez could be Logan Webb. Obviously, there are a few physical differences, but their arsenals and statistical markers are similar. Sánchez has a ways to go in terms of matching Webb’s consistency. However, if he can replicate similar versions of his 2024 season, his ceiling could settle around a similar place.
Just for context, there have been five pitchers since 2015 to have a 55% ground ball rate or higher with a 3.00 FIP or less (minimum 180 innings). The names include 2015 Jake Arrieta, Tyson Ross, and Dallas Keuchel, along with two names from 2024: Logan Webb and Cristopher Sánchez. Importantly, Sánchez has the fewest innings on here. However, it speaks to the kind of season he had and provides some possible comparisons. In 2025, Cristopher Sánchez projects to put up similar numbers and help fortify the Phillies rotation.
Photo Credit: © Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
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