Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez has recorded a brilliant month and historic May. Sánchez has set a new franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings. The Phillies left-handed pitcher has continued to ascend to stardom after a breakout 2024 season. Sánchez has solidified himself among the best pitchers in baseball right now. In May Sánchez recorded a 4-0 record with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP in five starts. Furthermore Sánchez has a 31.5% strikeout rate and a 2.1% walk rate this month. Opposing batters have a .181 average and a .266 BABIP against Sánchez in May.
Most consecutive scoreless outings of 7+ innings, since at least 1900:
1988 Orel Hershiser: 6
1968 Don Drysdale: 6
2026 Cristopher Sánchez: 5 *active
2007 Brandon Webb: 5
1968 Bob Gibson: 5
1904 Doc White: 5 https://t.co/ld9PJIliKT— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 27, 2026
This season Sánchez has a 6-2 record with a 1.47 ERA and a 1.81 FIP in 12 starts. Sánchez has a 1.12 WHIP and a 5.94 K/BB rate. Additionally Sánchez has a career best 29.4% strikeout rate and a 5.0% walk rate. Opposing batters have a .239 average along with a .337 BABIP against Sánchez this season. Sánchez leads qualified pitchers with a 3.3 fWAR this season. Furthermore Sánchez has the best ERA, FIP and WPA among qualified pitchers. Sánchez is also tied with Chris Sale and Michael Wacha for the most quality starts this season with nine.
Phillies Ace Has Brilliant Month
Comparison To A Prior Legendary Month In Team History
The brilliant month Sánchez put together has drawn comparisons to Cliff Lee’s June in 2011. Lee had a 5-0 record with a 0.21 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP in five starts. In addition to that Lee recorded a 19.7% strikeout rate and a 5.4% walk rate in that month. Opposing batters had a .151 average and a .191 BABIP against Lee in June of 2011. Lee pitched three complete game shutouts in June of 2011 compared to the one Sánchez has pitched in May of 2026. While opposing batters performed better against Sánchez than Lee, Sánchez recorded a better ERA, strikeout rate and walk rate in this brilliant month than Lee in June of 2011.
Underrated Trade In Team History
The Phillies acquired Sánchez in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019. To get Sánchez the Phillies gave up then highly regarded infield prospect Curtis Mead. This trade has turned into one of the Phillies best trades since 2000 because Sánchez has turned into a superstar while Mead is a bust. Mead has been traded multiple times since and has a .238/.312/.350 line with 12 home runs and 51 RBI in 194 major league games. To add to that Mead has a 90 wRC+ and a 0.8 fWAR in his career. Meanwhile Sánchez has a 14.1 fWAR since the start of the 2024 season which is the best among qualified starting pitchers.
How These Performances Have Helped The Team
Phillies starting pitchers collectively have a 2.69 ERA and 4.3 fWAR in May. Sánchez on his own has a 2.1 fWAR that ranks as the best among qualified starting pitchers this month. This brilliant month from Sánchez has contributed to the Phillies leading the league with 18 quality starts in May. On May 16 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Sánchez pitched a complete game shutout. There have been three total in May and Sánchez has one of them. As another Phillies pitcher is dazzling with Zack Wheeler returning to form the Phillies have a top of the rotation duo that is the best in baseball.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
