Perhaps no one personifies the rollercoaster that has been the 2026 Phillies better than Cristopher Sánchez. The ace lefty has gone from breaking hallowed records to getting hit around and back again. Just look at his monthly splits so far for 2026:
Sánchez’s historic May coincided with the Phillies rise from their early season skid to find themselves back in contention. Conversely, his rough July came in conjunction with the Phillies 9-15 record that caused their lead for a postseason spot to dwindle.
But yet again, Sánchez rebounded in August, and the team did with him as they went 21-7. Now in September, Sánchez is off to a rough start, and the Phillies are clinging to a postseason spot. His most recent outing on Tuesday ended up being a brutal loss to the Nationals in which Sánchez was charged with five runs and the Phillies failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity to give themselves more breathing room in the race.
Not only is Sánchez giving up more hits than he did in his strong August, he’s also seen his walk rate slowly climb dating back to June. He’s struggled more and more to throw strikes as the season has worn on, leading him into deeper pitch counts than usual and preventing him from pitching as deep as is usually expected of a pitcher of Sánchez’ capabilities. Perhaps most concerning is the collapse in whiff rate against Sánchez, particularly on his signature changeup. It’s obviously a small sample for the month of September, but the whiff rate on the changeup has plummeted to 31.1%, down from 54.5% in August and even down from the 43.4% in July. As the season has worn on, Sánchez has thrown the pitch in the zone less and less, and it appears that now hitters are laying off of it and remaining disciplined. That’s depriving Sánchez of his out pitch and leading to those deep counts and innings where numerous seeing eye base hits get through.
Sánchez’ recent struggles are amplified now not only because it’s the stretch run, but because the injury to Jesús Luzardo will force Sánchez and Zack Wheeler to carry a heavier load as the team tries just to get into the postseason. He has of course shown that he can rebound, but time may be running out for Sánchez to get himself right. The team can’t afford to wait another month for their ace to right the ship.
So, do you think Cristopher Sánchez will rebound in time?
