Cristopher Sanchez Named Phillies Opening Day Starter
Cristopher Sanchez will take the mound as the MLB Opening Day starter for the Philadelphia Phillies. The 29-year-old left-hander started both the regular-season home opener and the MLB Postseason opener…
Cristopher Sanchez will take the mound as the MLB Opening Day starter for the Philadelphia Phillies.
The 29-year-old left-hander started both the regular-season home opener and the MLB Postseason opener at Citizens Bank Park in 2025. Zack Wheeler started for the Phillies on Opening Day in 2024 and 2025, and Aaron Nola took the ball in each of the previous six seasons.
Cristopher Sanchez
While Paul Skenes stole the headlines with a unanimous vote to win the National League Cy Young, Sanchez swept the second-place votes with an ascending season of his own in 2025.
“Runner-up in the Cy Young last year. I’m biased, but I would’ve said he should’ve won the Cy Young. But it’s an honor (starting on Opening Day). He’s earned it, and he was pretty fired up about it.”
He finished fifth among qualified major league starters with a 2.50 ERA, third in innings pitched with 202, seventh with 212 strikeouts, and tied for 11th with a 1.06 WHIP.
The dominant emergence in the top tier of MLB left-handers came on the strength of his changeup. Opponents hit .170 against the putaway pitch with an outrageous 45.1% whiff rate. The changeup effectively resembles his hard sinker to keep hitters guessing. Sanchez also mixes his slider in well, especially against left-handed hitters, while the changeup has been especially devastating against righties.
Photo by Al Bello/Getty ImagesSanchez pitched 214 regular-season and postseason innings in 2025. He followed the heavy workload with an early ramp-up in 2026 for the World Baseball Classic. The semifinalist Dominican Republic team leaned on Sanchez as their top arm. He threw 6 ⅓ innings and allowed three earned runs in two starts.
The Phillies will begin the 2026 season against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday, March 26 at 4:15pm.
97.5 The Fanatic will broadcast Middays With Marks from Maggie’s on the Waterfront in Northeast Philly as part of the Opening Day festivities before Cristopher Sanchez takes the hill. Follow live sights and sounds from the ballpark on Instagram, Twitter/X, BlueSky, and Facebook.
All stats courtesy of StatCast, Baseball Reference, and FanGraphs
