Apr 17, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (61) throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants in the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
Cristopher Sanchez doesn't want anyone to know when he knows his changeup is going to be special on a given day.
"That's something I keep to myself," Sanchez said through a team interpreter. "It's not something I want to disclose to the public. But whenever I have that feeling, it's when I throw it middle-away and I throw it down. That's a good sign."
J.T. Realmuto said he can tell sometimes as early as the warm up tosses in the bullpen.
"To be honest, I kind of feel like it's always there. It's always that good. It's just a matter of if he's... locating it correctly," Realmuto said. "For me it's always a plus-plus pitch."
On Thursday, against the Giants, it was lethal.
Sanchez threw 50 change ups. The Giants swung and missed 22 times. That's the most in a game since pitches began being tracked in 2008
It led to a career high 12 strikeouts for Sanchez - the most by a Phillies lefthanded starter since Cole Hamels threw a no hitter in his final game as a Phillie in 2015.
Cristopher Sánchez, K'ing the Side in the 4th.
All Changeups again.
8Ks thru 4. All 8 on Changeups. pic.twitter.com/MjAuLRvxI0
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 17, 2025
Eleven of the 12 strikeouts came on changeups.
The end result was a 6-4 Phillies win over the Giants.
Fifty change ups is a lot of change ups in a game. It wasn't the gameplan going into the contest. But Realmuto hearkened back on something he said on Opening Day about these late afternoon games when the shadows start creeping in - he and his pitcher try to take advantage of that.
"It was kind of tough to see out there," Realmuto said. "Once the shadows rolled in, it makes it much harder to be able to recognize spin or something offspeed. So, that's kind of why we started using it more often."
It 's a pitch that becomes even more effective when Sanchez is able to pump out fastballs with high velocity. He reached 98 MPH Thursday, which makes the difference between the two pitches huge.
Sanchez threw seven innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits. He improved to 2-0 with a 2.96 ERA. The Phillies have won all four of his starts.
Considering they've lost all four of Aaron Nola;s starts - which have come just before Sanchez's - the lanky lefty has become a bit of a stopper for the Phillies.
Sanchez said he takes pride in that.
"He was as good as you are going to get," Rob Thomson said. "Or as good as I've seen. A lot of swing and miss. It was diving into the ground."
Nick Castellanos left the game Thursday with what the Phillies called left hip flexor tightness.
Thomson said after the game that Castellanos received treatment and the tightness went away. As a result, the Phillies are expecting Castellanos to play tomorrow.
The team is breathing a sigh of relief because if he couldn't go, Brandon Marsh is out of action temporarily with a a minor knee sprain suffered on Wednesday.
It is unlikely that Marsh will need an I.L. stint, but he is being considered day-to-day.
The Phillies don't have many other options on their bench to play the outfield.
They can work around one injury, but would struggle to do so around two of them without putting someone on the I.L.
