Christopher Sánchez looked like his Cy Young caliber self in his first start of the season for the Philadelphia Phillies. In his last two, including last night’s 6-0 loss in San Francisco to the Giants, he’s looked less than elite. He also didn’t get much help behind him or on the opposite side of the field.
Phillies hitters were cold against left-handed starter, Robbie Ray, something that has become a trend in the early season. They never heated up, staying cooler than the temperature in San Francisco even as the Giants bullpen entered the fray.
Philadelphia now sits at 6-5 on the season after another rocky day with the bats and the gloves have started to reveal some potential holes. It’s still plenty early for these things to be figure out, but let’s take a look at how they got there last night.
Everyone in baseball knows who Christopher Sánchez is by now - an elite, lanky left-hander with great movement and tunneling on his sinker/change-up combo, with an increasingly-effective slider to boot. But this is the major leagues. If any of those pitches show any signs of being off, or catching too much of the zone, they can be hit all over the yard.
San Fran’s lineup was able to take advantage of both of those, tallying 11 hits against Sánchez who had a stellar 1.08 ERA at Oracle Park prior to Tuesday night. It was just the third time in his career that Cristopher allowed 10+ hits in a game, and his only time allowing more was back on August 11, 2024 at Arizona.
Now his stats won’t appear too inflated after this, despite not recording an out in the sixth after being lifted with two runners in scoring position. Four runs crossed attached to his ledger, but only two were earned as some defensive struggles hampered any chance Sánchez had to battle through a sixth inning.
In the fifth, he threw about 13 more pitches than necessary. With the game still at 1-0 entering the inning, Jared Oliva followed a lead-off single with a ground ball to Phillies shortstop Trea Turner. What could have been a double play ball was dropped by Turner, allowing both runners to be safe.
Rafael Marchán did his best to help, back-picking the runner at first before Willy Adames, who already had two doubles on the day, popped up for out No. 2. Matt Chapman stepped in and rocketed a ball toward left field 111.7 mph off the bat. Otto Kemp, who is learning left field on the job, hesitated in an attempt to time the ball instead of running back. His jump was poorly timed, and the second run crossed the plate.
Kemp told reporters after the game, “In hindsight, I wish I would have tried to beat the ball to the spot to have a better chance to make that play, rather than trying to time the jump up.” He explained how it is another play he can learn from. “Just try and keep it in the back of my mind…if a ball is hit hard like that, just try and beat it to the spot.”
The Giants third baseman would come around to score himself before the inning came to a close.
8 of the 11 hits Sánchez surrendered were with two strikes - a new career high (previously five). He told reporters “I don’t feel really good right now,” via the team’s interpreter. “In my second outing, it was four walks. Today, I allowed 11 hits. I got them to two strikes, but I couldn’t put them away.”
One thing that could be concerning - Sánchez’s sinker velocity is down compared to this time last season. One of the things that made the Phillies ace so effective last season was an increase of velocity compared to what teams were used to from him. So to see that tick down, even a little, could be something hitters are picking up on.
Through three starts last season, Sánchez was averaging 95.8 mph with his sinker. This season, it’s down to 94.4 - nearly 1.5 miles-per-hour. The exit velocity against his bread-and-butter has also seen a jump, going from 89.8 to 94.7 mph in the early going. If that isn’t enough evidence that hitters are seeing the pitch better, opponents' barrel rate has increased from 13.3 percent in three starts last season to 21.9 percent so far this year.
Sánchez noted after the loss that he’s not concerned as he knows what he needs to do. Hopefully for his sake, that adjustment results in a rebound to his primary pitch.
Robbie Ray is one of the better left-handed starters in the majors, but his dominance over the Phillies lineup las tonight has added to an early, concerning trend. Two weeks into the season, the team clearly has a kryptonite - and it’s facing left-handed starting pitchers.
Now due to injury/precautions and manager Rob Thomson’s platoon approach, all four bench players from Opening Day found themselves in last night’s lineup. That is part of the story. But overall, the struggles are obvious. As a team, Philly is slashing .138/.242/.213 against left-handed starting pitchers. Their OPS of .455 ranks them No. 29 in the major leagues. All four games they faced a lefty starting pitcher (not opener), the team lost.
Key hitters, including the three best right-handers in the lineup, have all gotten to slow starts against southpaw starters. Alec Bohm, Adolis García, Bryce Harper and Trea Turner are a combined 4-for-37 (.108 avg) when a true lefty starter kicks things off for the opposition.
“Obviously, we have to get better,” Rob Thomson said to reporters postgame.
Last season, the Phillies had a .723 OPS against lefty starters. That ranked 12th in the majors and was greatly supported by Kyle Schwarber having a career year against left-handers. They still lost more than they won against lefty starting pitchers a season ago, but something that was not necessarily a major concern is an achilles heel in the early going.
J.T. Realmuto started the game, but was lifted prior to the second inning after he took a foul ball off the inside of his right foot. He received imaging and it was confirmed to be a contusion. The club will evaluate him further and he is considered day-to-day.
Alec Bohm left Monday’s game with groin tightness and is also considered day-to-day. He was held out of last night’s game as a precaution.
Philly has a chance today to win their first series against the Giants since May 2024, and their first in San Francisco since May of 2013. Aaron Nola (1-0, 3.18 ERA) will face off against Tyler Mahle (0-2, 7.00 ERA).
