The Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to terms with lefty Cristopher Sánchez on a four-year contract extension with multiple option years, the club announced on Saturday. The deal specifically includes club options for the 2029 and 2030 seasons. This means that the extension covers Sánchez's remaining pre-arbitration years, arbitration years, and, if the options are exercised, two free-agent years.
The financial terms of the extension were not announced and have yet to be reported.
Sánchez, 27, has emerged as a valuable presence in the Phillies' rotation. Since the start of the 2023 season, he's made 32 starts and one relief appearance, and over that span of 176 ⅔ combined innings he's pitched to a 3.21 ERA (131 ERA+) with 162 strikeouts and 40 unintentional walks. Thus far in 2024, Sánchez has added more than 2 mph to his average fastball velocity. For his career, Sánchez boasts an ERA+ of 112 across parts of four MLB seasons, all with the Phillies. Sánchez was originally signed by the Rays out of the Dominican Republic in 2013. In November of 2019, the Phillies acquired him from Tampa Bay in exchange for infielder Curtis Mead.
Sánchez has been a key, if overlooked, member of baseball's best rotation so far in 2024. At this writing, the Philly rotation, which also includes Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Ranger Suárez, leads all of MLB with a starters' ERA of 3.02.
The Phillies enter Saturday's slate with and NL-best record of 49-26 and a six-game lead over the Braves in the NL East.
