What Made Cristopher Sanchez' Phillies Spring Debut So Electric

DUNEDIN, Fla. — It was a star-studded affair, as far as February Grapefruit League games go, with 2025 National League Cy Young runner-up Cristopher Sanchez pitching for the Phillies and $210 million man Dylan Cease going for the Blue Jays on Saturday at TD Ballpark.

Justin Crawford, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper hit 1-2-3 for the Phillies in the last game before the World Baseball Classic for Schwarber and Harper. An 83 mph changeup was left over the middle of the plate to Harper in the fifth inning and he launched it over the right-field wall with a nice and easy swing for his first home run of the spring.

The Blue Jays had a bunch of studs in the lineup, as well: George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho, along with regulars Andres Gimenez and Ernie Clement.

Sanchez pitched two innings, throwing 22 sinkers, seven changeups and three sliders. It's common for starters to focus mostly on fastball command in their first start of the spring before incorporating more of their repertoire throughout the month but he already appears to have the feel for everything.

Mid-season form

Sanchez picked up four strikeouts — Gimenez, Clement, Jesus Sanchez and Ben Cowles — on a sinker and three of his trademark cambios. The sinker averaged 95.0 mph and maxed out at 96.3. He threw seven changeups and six were terrific. All seven resulted in swinging strikes.

"Do you find that weird?" Sanchez jokingly asked a reporter when the high quality of Saturday's changeup was mentioned.

"It’s been looking great since I reported to camp. If it’s like that early on, you just have to take it."

Toronto's hitters missed 12 of the 19 pitches they swung at against Sanchez.

WBC-bound

Sanchez now departs for the World Baseball Classic, where he'll pitch on March 6 against Nicaragua as the ace of a stacked Dominican Republic squad. The limit in pool play is 65 pitches and it's unclear how many starts Sanchez will make.

Asked this week whether Sanchez could start again in the WBC after March 6, Phillies manager Rob Thomson said the team will read and react to how the first one goes. Big-league clubs communicate with the coaching staffs of WBC teams to try figure out a plan that works for both sides.

"It's like a dream come true for me. I feel like kid at a candy store right now," Sanchez said of pitching for his country.

"It's an unbelievable feeling. Never in my life would I ever have dreamed something like this would happen. I never thought I was going to get to this level. To be able to represent my country is not just pride, it's a pleasure for me. To go represent my country, my teammates, my family, it's just an amazing feeling."

Upon further review

The most egregious missed ball-strike call of the young ABS era for the Phillies came in the top of the first inning as Cease threw a 2-2 sinker to Schwarber that was well within the strike zone, almost center-cut.

Home-plate umpire Brennan Miller called it a ball and it was immediately challenged by the catcher Kirk. A few seconds later, the call was overturned and Schwarber was ruled out.