Is there a better duo in baseball than Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez? We asked the experts.

The subject came up in the Phillies’ clubhouse recently, after Zack Wheeler followed a Cristopher Sánchez gem with one of his own.

Is there a better 1-2 pitching punch in baseball?

Bryce Harper answered the question with a question.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m going to ask you,” the Face of the Franchise said. “What do you think? Is it the best 1-2? I mean, it’s got to be up there.”

Up there? No doubt.

The best?

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Anecdotally, it’s hard to believe there’s a better tandem. Sánchez and Wheeler have started back-to-back for seven turns through the rotation, five times against the same team. Here’s how it’s gone:

That’s a 0.51 ERA in 53 innings for Sánchez, last year’s Cy Young Award runner-up in the National League. The 29-year-old recently went 50⅔ innings without giving up a run, the longest streak by a lefty and fifth-longest overall since at least 1893.

And it’s a 2.17 mark in 45⅔ innings for Wheeler, a two-time Cy Young runner-up. You wouldn’t know that he turned 36 two weeks ago — or had a rib removed nine months ago to relieve a compressed vein.

Philly hasn’t seen a better 1-2 punch since the trio of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels in 2011, maybe since Rocky’s left jab and right cross.

Sánchez leads all pitchers in wins above replacement (5.0, as calculated by Baseball-Reference) and innings (93⅓), and ranks second in strikeouts (113), and third in ERA (1.54). Wheeler is tied for sixth in WAR (2.7) and has a 2.22 ERA in nine starts.

“I love Wheeler, and I think Sánchez is above Wheeler now,” said a talent evaluator from a National League team. “That’s how good I think Sánchez is.”

Sure, but are they the best?

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“It’s relentless,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said last month after Sánchez’s six-hit shutout preceded seven scoreless innings from Wheeler. “Whenever you get to that level and you’re facing those types of guys, those are the types of arms you’re going to see in October.”

After Sánchez blanked the Guardians for eight innings on May 22, Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt called him “special.” A day later, the Guardians were muted for six innings by Wheeler, whom Vogt called “one of the best righties in the game.”

Put them together, and well, it’s a two-headed monster that gives the Phillies an edge over almost any team in a short series.

But there are others. An informal survey of scouts this week produced other dynamic-duo nominees. Among them:

Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison, Brewers: When it comes to velocity, nobody beats The Miz. The 24-year-old righty’s fastball averages — repeat: averages — 100 mph. Harrison is a revelation, though one NL evaluator was skeptical of the 24-year-old lefty, who has been traded twice (Giants to Red Sox to Brewers) since last June 15. Misiorowski and Harrison will take 1.50 and 2.72 ERAs into starts Friday and Sunday, respectively, against the Phillies in Milwaukee.

Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers: Imagine if the Phillies convinced Yamamoto to take their $300 million-plus offer in December 2023? After his iconic postseason last year, he has a 2.68 ERA through 12 starts. Ohtani seems determined to add a Cy Young Award to his MVP collection (four, and almost certainly counting). He allowed five runs through his first 10 starts and has a 1.06 ERA overall. One rival NL scout dinged the Dodgers’ duo, dominant as it is, due to the unique usage of Ohtani, who rarely starts on less than six days’ rest.

Cam Schlittler and Gerrit Cole, Yankees: Every team wishes it could clone its Cy Young-winning ace. The Yankees seem to have done it. Schlittler (1.87 ERA through 14 starts) resembles Cole not only in terms of physical appearance but also stuff, notably a big fastball and hard cutter. Two scouts — one in each league — put the Yankees’ 25- and 35-year-old righties slightly ahead of Sánchez and Wheeler. But one NL scout cautioned that, like Wheeler, Cole is coming back from surgery. So far, though, four starts into his return from Tommy John elbow surgery, he has a 2.45 ERA that has him looking like vintage Cole.

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Another NL scout cited the emergence of righty Braxton Ashcraft (3.28 ERA through 13 starts) as a sidekick to Paul Skenes (2.84 in 14 starts) to give the Pirates a formidable tandem. The AL scout pointed to Blue Jays right-handers Dylan Cease (2.91 ERA in 12 starts) and Kevin Gausman (3.60 in 14 starts).

Off the top of his head, Harper submitted Braves lefty Chris Sale and, when healthy, hard-throwing Spencer Schwellenbach. But the latter had surgery in February to remove bone spurs from his right elbow and isn’t expected to pitch until late in the season.

In any case, the Phillies believe Sánchez and Wheeler don’t take a back seat to anyone. They’re 10-4 in Sánchez’s starts (including a 1-0 loss to the Guardians on May 22), 7-2 in Wheeler’s, and 20-29 in all other games.

Unlike the Dodgers’ and Yankees’ co-aces, Sánchez and Wheeler give the Phillies a lefty-righty balance. They present stylistic contrasts, too, and come from vastly different backgrounds.

Sánchez, acquired from the Rays in a minor trade after the 2019 season, represents a victory for the Phillies’ scouting, analytics, and mostly player-development departments. Specifically, pitching coach Caleb Cotham credits César Ramos, who worked with Sánchez in triple A before becoming the major league bullpen coach.

In three years, Sánchez harnessed his command, honed his changeup, and went from a last-resort fifth starter in 2023 to the best lefty in the NL — and maybe in the entire sport.

Since the beginning of the 2024 season, Sánchez has a 2.62 ERA and leads all pitchers with 16.9 WAR, as calculated by Baseball-Reference.

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“It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of, from where he started to where he is now,” Cotham said this week on The Inquirer’s Phillies Extra podcast. “The attention to detail and the small things, tightening the delivery, we can go on and on. They turned into huge things for him.

“You watch a ’23 video, ’22, even some ’24 video, it still kind of smacks me in the face, where it’s like, wow. I know the delivery is tighter, it’s cleaner. But he’s a big dude. There was arms and hands and feet going everywhere. It’s still kind of jarring watching even ’24 video with how much better and consistent and compact his delivery is compared to then. It’s just gotten better and better each year.

“That’s probably the biggest piece for me with Cris. The physicality got to a point to allow the delivery to get to where you’re no longer wondering where this ball’s going to go.”

Wheeler has evolved, too. He still leans on his fastball, although it’s a few ticks slower after his surgery. But he added a sweeper and splitter over the last few years, and in any given start, one or the other, or maybe his curveball, might be his best off-speed pitch.

“The splitter’s arguably as good as it’s ever been, movement-wise,” Cotham said. “The sweeper’s been very good. He’s thrown the last couple of starts some of the better curveballs he’s thrown. The cutter was a pitch he didn’t quite have early in the year. It’s gotten better lately.”

Oh, and for hitters, here’s the scary part.

“I still think,” Cotham said, “there’s another level for him.”

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Said interim manager Don Mattingly: “It’s always good to have Wheels out there. We talk about Sánchy being an ace. But it’s hard to have a true ace if you’re not saying Wheeler is the guy. It’s good to have these guys back-to-back.”

Regardless of where Sánchez and Wheeler stack up, few teams have anything like them.

“It’s tough coming into a ballpark and knowing that you’re going to face those two guys in a series,” Harper said. “So, yeah, I really don’t know if there’s a better 1-2 punch in the game right now.”

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Fifty years ago, the All-Star Game came to Philadelphia as part of the bicentennial celebration. Larry Bowa was among five Phillies who represented the National League. With the Midsummer Classic returning to town next month, Bowa joined Phillies Extra to recall the atmosphere surrounding the 1976 game and being an All-Star at Veterans Stadium, as well as the state of the current Phillies. Watch here.

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