The Phillies’ starting rotation has a lot of buzz surrounding it heading into the regular season. Cristopher Sanchez continues to fuel that excitement after another impressive spring training start against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday as the Phillies rallied in the ninth for a walk-off 5-4 win.
Sanchez Continues to Shine
With his fastball still pumping in the upper 90’s to go with a lethal changeup, Sanchez tossed 2.2 innings, racking up five strikeouts. He cruised through the first two innings before running into some trouble in the third.
Sanchez seemingly had his sixth punchout of the day to close out the third inning, but Baltimore’s Gary Sanchez challenged a full count pitch, which was overturned to a ball with the new ABS System implemented this Spring Training. The southpaw would go to the dugout regardless as he was pulled for reliever Gabe Mosser with the bases loaded, who gave up a two-run single to Colton Cowser. Sanchez was charged with two runs, only one earned though, as J.T. Realmuto was called for catcher’s interference to allow O’s super prospect Samuel Basallo to reach base.
In two starts, Sanchez has eight strikeouts to just one walk in 4.2 innings of work while opponents are hitting just .176 against him. It’s a small sample size, but it’s been noticeably impressive.
Bohm Homers Twice
After rumors swirled all winter that the Phillies might be looking to trade All-Star third baseman Alec Bohm, Dave Dombroski put that to rest, and Bohm is looking to build off his All-Star campaign in 2024, where he hit 15 homers and drove in 97 RBI while posting a wRC+ of 115. The third baseman put a jolt into a changeup against Luis Gonzalez for his first homer and just his second hit of the spring to make it a 2-1 Phillies deficit in the fourth.
He followed up in his next at-bat with an opposite field shot to right field in the bottom of the sixth to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead for a multi-homer afternoon. Bohm had just one game last season where he hit two or more home runs, which came back on April 19 against the Chicago White Sox.
Oscar In Outfield Mix
Oscar Mercado tied the game up with a solo blast in the bottom of the fifth inning for just his third hit of the spring. The outfielder was signed by the Phillies to a minor league deal to be part of the outfield competition. Mercado, originally a second-round pick by St. Louis had a strong rookie campaign slashing .269/.318/.443 with 15 homers and 15 steals in 482 plate appearances with Cleveland after acquiring him in a trade. Mercado has yet to duplicate that successful season and spent the majority of last year in Triple-A between Toldeo (Detroit) and El Paso (San Diego) playing in 93 games hitting .222 with 12 homers and 50 RBIs.
Ninth Inning Rally
Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies mounted a two-out comeback. Payton Henry extended the game with a walk. After Bryan Rincon singled and Paul McIntosh was plunked by a pitch to load the bases, Matt Kroon singled to left to drive in two for the come-from-behind won.
Other Phillies Notes
Kyle Schwarber got the start in left field for the Phillies Sunday afternoon. Schwarber made just five starts in the corner outfield position last year for the Phils, but is no stranger to playing left. In 2022 and 2023, he was the club’s primary left fielder, making 142 total starts during that span. Edmundo Sosa entered the game in the 7th inning and played right field as the Phillies look to provide more versatility for the utilityman.
The Phillies had a split-squad day in the Sunshine State and lost to Toronto in Dunedin 5-4. The team will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Tampa to take on the Yankees at 1:05 p.m.
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
