Cristopher Sánchez is set to take the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies on April 22 as they aim to break an eight-game losing streak in their series finale against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
The game holds significance as the Phillies look to reverse their longest skid since September 2018. Sánchez, who recently signed a six-year, $107 million extension, will make his sixth start of the season. Despite his own assessment that he “can be better” than his current performance, he holds the fifth-best earned run average among qualified Major League Baseball starters so far this year.
Sánchez has maintained a 1.59 ERA despite facing more base runners than usual, with a walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP) of 1.412 compared to last year’s mark of 1.064 when he finished second in National League Cy Young Award voting. In his previous outing against the Cubs just over a week ago, Sánchez allowed two earned runs over six innings but still took a loss after several fielding errors led to unearned runs in Atlanta during his most recent appearance.
The left-hander’s ability to pitch deep into games is especially important for Philadelphia at this time; neither Aaron Nola nor Jesús Luzardo managed to complete five innings in their recent starts, and Taijuan Walker lasted only four frames following an opener on Wednesday. Overall, since April 14, Phillies starting pitchers have combined for just over thirty-three innings—among the lowest totals in Major League Baseball during that span.
The Philadelphia Phillies are one of baseball’s oldest franchises and function as a charter member of Major League Baseball’s National League according to the official website. The team represents Philadelphia both regionally and nationally through games and community outreach according to the official website. Since 2004, home games have been played at Citizens Bank Park—a stadium covering twenty-one acres according to the official website. The organization is overseen by executives including its chief executive officer and general manager according to the official website.
The Phillies have previously won World Series titles in both 1980 and 2008 according to the official website.
