Phillies lock up emerging star pitcher with four-year extension

Phillies lock up emerging star pitcher with four-year extension

When a member of the Philadelphia Phillies makes the city proud with their performance, it's becoming clearer by the season that the team will reward that player with an extension.

The Phillies are adding to their recent track record of extensions in the starting rotation. They had re-signed Aaron Nola to a five-year deal in free agency in November, and inked Zack Wheeler to a three-year extension in March that includes the highest annual salary of any pitcher in Major League Baseball history. On Saturday, one more joined the list.

Before Saturday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Phillies announced they were signing 27-year-old lefty Cristopher Sánchez to a four-year extension through 2028. The deal also includes club options for 2029 and 2030.

This deal rewards Sánchez for his excellent performance with life-changing money sooner than he would have gotten it through arbitration while also giving the Phillies two additional years of team control. It's a win-win in a relationship that has worked out wonderfully for both sides since Sánchez unexpectedly won a rotation spot midway through last season.

In June last season, when the Phillies were struggling and pitching depth was running thin, they inserted Sánchez into their starting rotation. He had just four career starts through two-plus seasons to that point but has pitched like an ace ever since.

In 32 starts since June 17, 2023, Sánchez has a 3.13 ERA, ninth-best among all starting pitchers in that time frame. He has developed one of the nastiest change-ups in the sport, with 18% more vertical drop and 24% more horizontal movement than the MLB average.

That pitch has enabled Sánchez to go from a minor league afterthought to a fixture of the Phillies' future.

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