Rangers' Jake Burger bestows 'superstar' label to Phillies' Cristopher Sanchez

Cristopher Sanchez is another ace of the Phillies staff

Current Phillies ace Zack Wheeler is slowly working his way back from shoulder surgery, leaving Sanchez to hold down the rotation. Wheeler will pitch in a few rehab assignments with the Leigh Valley Iron Pigs (Triple-A) starting Saturday. 

After finishing second to Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes in the Cy Young voting — 13-5 with a 2.50 ERA — the Phillies issued Sanchez a new contract. Originally signing a four-year ($22M) extension in 2024, Sanchez now has a new six-year contract (guaranteeing $107M). 

Sanchez’s teammate and fellow rotation mate, left-hander Jesus Luzardo, also received a contract extension (five years, $135M). Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made getting a deal done with Sanchez a priority while he was still young. 

“When we looked into the future,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said to Zolecki, “we talked a lot about it over the wintertime and talked with [Phillies owner] John Middleton. … We kind of assumed years four and five [club options in the original deal] were no-brainers as far as we were going to pick those up. We couldn't even imagine a scenario in which we wouldn't, so now we start talking beyond that. We thought that somebody of Cristopher’s stature … that we'd rather get this done now, while we still have age and it makes sense for us.”

The Phillies acquired Sanchez from the Tampa Bay Rays for infielder Curtis Mead in 2019. Mead was recently designated for assignment by the Chicago White Sox after struggling to hit in the big leagues — a .238 batting average in 445 career at-bats.