A grateful Cristopher Sánchez dominates with historic first opening-day start
Bolstered by a new contract his team didn’t have to give him, Sanchez became the first Phillies pitcher since Curt Schilling in 1997 to have double-digit strikeouts on opening day.
On Sunday, Cristopher Sánchez sat in front of a Phillies backdrop in Clearwater Fla., his 18-month-old son in his lap, to answer questions about his new contract.
It was a deal the Phillies didn’t have to make. They already had control of their ace through 2030 on very team-friendly terms. But instead, the club opted to guarantee Sánchez $107 million through 2032, and add a team option in 2033.
“It shows a commitment that this team has,” Sánchez said Sunday through a team interpreter. “They reward my work.”
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On Thursday, Sánchez showed exactly why the team had been willing to make an unprecedented move for him with a dazzling opening-day performance. He shut down the Rangers over six scoreless innings and held them to three hits in the Phillies’ 5-3 win.
He walked zero batters and struck out 10, becoming the first Phillies pitcher since Curt Schilling fanned 11 in 1997 to record double-digit strikeouts on opening day.
That wasn’t the only bit of history Sánchez made Thursday, either. Just by walking out to the mound for the first inning, he became the Phillies’ first opening day starting pitcher from the Dominican Republic.
“It’s a privilege to be that one,” said Sánchez, who hails from La Romana. “It’s a privilege as a player, and personally it’s a privilege to represent this organization and this city out there on the mound.”
For most starting pitchers, the third time through the opponent’s batting order is a curse. In 2025, starters baseball-wide had a 3.49 ERA the first time through the order. The third time through the order, that figure ballooned to 5.61, as that is the point in the game when pitchers become fatigued and hitters have made adjustments.
But Sánchez seemed to get sharper as the game progressed. Two of the hits he allowed came in the first inning, a pair of two-out singles from Corey Seager and Jake Burger.
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In the sixth inning, he came out to face the top of the Rangers lineup for a third time and he struck out the side in order. He let out a roar in celebration after he sat Seager down swinging on a changeup.
“Those are emotions that come out during the game,” Sánchez said. “And things just happen when you have performances like these. So you just got to let it out sometimes.”
To combat what is sometimes called the “third time through the order penalty,” some pitchers focus on diversifying their arsenals so they have multiple tools to keep hitters off-balance deeper into games. That’s not the strategy for Sánchez, who only needs three pitches.
The secret, as it always seems to be for him, is his changeup.
“Sánchy’s a guy where he’s got an ace up his sleeve all the time,” Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham said this week. “It’s a one-of-one changeup. The hand speed, the delivery, the size of him, the long arms, the deception of it.”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson thinks the pitch actually gets better as the game goes on.
“Because he gets a feel for it. It has more bottom to it, as he gets fatigued,” Thomson said.
When asked his perspective, Sánchez was coy.
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“I work really hard on it,” he said. “But I can’t tell you any more details.”
The development of the pitch into a not-so-secret weapon changed the course of Sánchez’s career. Three years ago, he was part of the rotation in triple-A Lehigh Valley and was only recalled that June as an emergency fifth starter. There weren’t any expectations for him then. He surpassed them to become a regular part of the rotation.
On Thursday, with the weight of $107 million the team had not needed to commit to him, the expectations were as high as ever. He surpassed them again.
“I never could have imagined going through this, on a day like today,” Sánchez said. “I’m thankful to God for putting me in this spot, thankful to the team and the organization for believing in me, and for trusting me with this task.”