{"id":92018,"date":"2024-12-14T01:25:43","date_gmt":"2024-12-14T06:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=92018"},"modified":"2024-12-14T01:25:43","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T06:25:43","slug":"phillies-cristopher-sanchez-should-continue-ascent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/14\/phillies-cristopher-sanchez-should-continue-ascent\/","title":{"rendered":"Phillies Lefty Should Continue To Ascend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cristopher S\u00e1nchez<\/a> 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. S\u00e1nchez was tied with American League Cy Young runner-up Seth Lugo<\/a> for the sixth most valuable starting pitcher in all of baseball by fWAR<\/a>. He established himself as one of the premier ground ball pitchers<\/a> 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<\/a>. Let’s dig into his arsenal and other statistical elements of his profile.<\/p>\n

Cristopher S\u00e1nchez Primed to Shine Long-Term for Phillies<\/h2>\n

The Arsenal<\/h3>\n

S\u00e1nchez 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 S\u00e1nchez’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 S\u00e1nchez is at locating these pitches in the bottom third of the zone and below the zone.<\/p>\n

Sinker<\/h4>\n

S\u00e1nchez’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<\/a> that sinkers possess, but the trade-offs can be worth it. Additionally, the sinker plays an important role in setting up his elite changeup.<\/p>\n

The sinker was S\u00e1nchez’s only pitch that struggled against right-handed hitters. In addition, there was another pitch that S\u00e1nchez 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.<\/p>\n

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Cristopher S\u00e1nchez, 96mph Paint. \ud83d\udd8c\ufe0f\ud83c\udfa8 pic.twitter.com\/bH7vZe68qf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 26, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n