PHILADELPHIA -- Cristopher Sánchez¡¯s changeup is one of the best in baseball.
It looked like the best on Thursday.
It was unhittable in a 6-4 victory over the Giants at Citizens Bank Park, helping the Phillies to a series split. S¨¢nchez struck out a career-high 12 batters in seven innings, which were the most strikeouts in a game by a Phillies left-hander since Cole Hamels struck out 13 in a no-hitter against the Cubs in his final start for the organization on July 25, 2015.
S¨¢nchez struck out 11 on changeups, which tied Alex Cobb (May 10, 2013) and Luis Castillo (Aug. 5, 2019) for the most strikeouts on changeups in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). His 22 whiffs on changeups were the most single-game whiffs on a changeup by any pitcher in the pitch tracking era, regular season or postseason.
¡°That¡¯s my changeup,¡± S¨¢nchez said through the team¡¯s interpreter. ¡°My changeup has always been good. It¡¯s just that sometimes I take it with me.¡±
S¨¢nchez got only three whiffs on his changeup last weekend in St. Louis, although he got the Cardinals to ground into four double plays in a 4-1 victory. But he said his changeup felt especially good in his bullpen session earlier this week.
It felt the same in the bullpen before the game.
¡°I kind of feel like it¡¯s always there,¡± Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto said. ¡°It¡¯s always that good. It¡¯s just if he¡¯s locating it correctly. Usually I can tell that early in the game or in the bullpen, like first inning or two. You can tell if he¡¯s got good location of it or not. But for me, it¡¯s always a plus-plus pitch.¡±
When S¨¢nchez has the really, really good changeup going, how does he know?
¡°That¡¯s something I keep for myself,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s something I don¡¯t disclose in public. But whenever I have that feeling, when I throw it middle-away, I throw it down, that¡¯s a good sign.¡±
S¨¢nchez is 2-0 with a 2.96 ERA in four starts this season. The Phillies have won each game he has pitched. Each of those games has been preceded by a Phillies loss.
¡°That¡¯s something to be proud of,¡± S¨¢nchez said.
S¨¢nchez allowed a run in the first inning, but struck out three on changeups. The Phillies scored five against Giants right-hander Jordan Hicks in the bottom of the first to take a 5-1 lead. It included a hard-hit, run-scoring triple to center field by Alec Bohm. Giants center fielder Luis Matos nearly caught the ball, but it popped out of his glove as he slammed into the center-field wall.
Maybe Bohm¡¯s luck is finally changing.
It was more than enough for S¨¢nchez, who also struck out the side on changeups in the fourth.
¡°It was as good as you¡¯re going to get,¡± Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. ¡°Or as good as I¡¯ve seen. I mean, just a lot of swing and miss. It was diving into the ground.¡±
Since S¨¢nchez became a mainstay in the Phillies¡¯ rotation on June 17, 2023, he has an MLB-best 164 strikeouts on changeups. Tarik Skubal (127), Bailey Ober (124), Tyler Anderson (123) and Michael Wacha (119) round out the top five.
"His changeup was good,¡± Giants manager Bob Melvin said. ¡°It was tough to see for a while, too. His changeup looks just like his sinker, so we struggled with that."
S¨¢nchez came to Spring Training in February looking visibly stronger than he had in the past. He hoped the added strength would allow him to not only add velocity to his sinker, but also maintain velocity throughout his starts and deep into the season.
S¨¢nchez¡¯s sinker on Thursday averaged 96.3 mph. It touched 98.0 mph.
It averaged 94.5 mph last season.
His last fastball in the seventh inning was 97.6 mph.
¡°Oh, he¡¯s better,¡± Thomson said, comparing S¨¢nchez from last year to this year. ¡°I don¡¯t know whether it¡¯s 5 percent, 10 percent, 15 percent. I don¡¯t know the number on that, but he¡¯s better because the velocity is up from last year. It¡¯s hard. You¡¯ve got to gear up for 97, 98 mph, and then he¡¯s got that great changeup. It¡¯s tough.¡±
S¨¢nchez has had that changeup forever. He taught himself how to throw it.
¡°Just throwing it, creating a little bit, throwing different things, until I created something that worked for me,¡± he said