ANAHEIM, Calif. — It was a changeup, of course, perfectly placed to just nick the bottom outside corner of the strike zone.
Angels shortstop Zach Neto swung nearly out of his shoes trying to chase it, his momentum bringing him down to a knee over the plate. Cristopher Sánchez hardly reacted. He turned and walked off the mound, another strikeout added to his tally on Saturday night.
But this one had a bit more significance than usual, marking Sánchez’s 200th of the year. He became the second Phillies pitcher to eclipse the milestone this season, joining Jesús Luzardo, who reached it in Seattle earlier this week.
“We just have to keep going,” Sánchez said afterward, through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “This doesn’t end now.”
They’re in elite company in Phillies history. Since Sánchez and Luzardo also reached 200 strikeouts in 2025, it marks the first time the Phillies have had multiple lefties with more than 200 strikeouts in consecutive seasons since Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee in 2012 and 2013.
Even though they are neck-and-neck in strikeouts — Luzardo ranks fourth in baseball with 203 and Sánchez is fifth with 202 — it’s not something they ever discuss.
But there is an element of friendly competition within the Phillies rotation as a whole, and not just between the two top lefties.
“I think every single guy in the rotation wants to be the top, whether it’s innings, strikeouts,” Luzardo said. “Everyone just always wants to be the best, in a friendly competition way.”
When Sánchez puts up seven innings, like he did Saturday, the next starter’s goal is to put up eight. If he gives up two hits, the next pitcher wants to give up fewer than that.
“We push each other to be better as a rotation, in general,” Luzardo said.
When he was traded to the Phillies from Miami in December 2024, Luzardo didn’t know much about Sánchez. But he’d been impressed from afar. Sánchez was coming off his breakout season, and had signed an extension with the Phillies that June.
They have since re-extended Sánchez, signing him to an unprecedented six-year, $107 million deal in spring training that runs through 2033. It came just a few weeks after the Phillies made a long-term commitment to Luzardo, signing him to a five-year, $135 million extension.
Luzardo remembers Sánchez pitching a complete game, the first of his career, against the Marlins in 2024. That season, Sánchez came on the scene from almost nowhere, transforming from a bubble player to an All-Star and future cornerstone of the Phillies’ rotation.
“As the years went on, obviously he progressed and became who he is now,” Luzardo said. “A superstar.”
Once he arrived in Philadelphia and got to know his new teammate, Luzardo saw commonalities between their trajectories. Luzardo and Sánchez struggled earlier in their careers and spent time as relievers before eventually finding their footing as starters.
“I love the way he goes about his business,” Luzardo said. “He’s so routine-oriented and an incredibly hard worker.”
Stylistically, they appear different. They both throw left-handed, but visually that’s where the similarities end. Sánchez stands 6 inches taller than Luzardo, and his 6-foot-6 frame gives him elite extension. Sánchez on average releases the ball 6.9 feet in front of the rubber, which gives the batter less reaction time to differentiate his 95 mph fastball from his changeup or slider.
On the other hand, Luzardo only has 5.7 feet of extension, which is in the bottom fourth percentile of MLB pitchers. But he makes up for it with velocity that’s a few ticks higher. His fastball averages 96.9 mph.
On the surface, their arsenals also look quite different. But en route to surpassing 200 strikeouts, Sánchez and Luzardo each mainly relied on one key pitch that is the best of its kind in baseball.
For Sánchez, it’s his changeup. For Luzardo, it’s his sweeper.
Sánchez’s changeup has a run value of plus-16, which is the highest of all changeups, according to StatCast. Luzardo’s sweeper, which he only started throwing last season, has a run value of plus-20, highest of all sweepers. The stat attempts to capture how many runs have been prevented by a given pitch based on its outcomes.
“He’s way taller, has a low arm slot, throws heavy, bowling-ball sinkers and changeups and a good slider, and then I’m kind of the opposite,” Luzardo said. “I got a better slider with an alright changeup. We’re lefties, but we’re so different that it kind of does a good job of mixing and matching.”
Even though they may look different on the mound, and they may throw different types of pitches, Sánchez and Luzardo have a lot they can learn from each other. When they are both lined up to face the same team, Luzardo watches how the opposing hitters attack Sánchez’s changeup, because it’s a fair bet they will try to go after his sweeper the same way.
“Are they sitting on his really good pitch? Because maybe they’re going to sit on mine. Or are they swinging early, because they don’t want to get to that pitch? So then that means they’re probably going to swing earlier for me,” Luzardo said. “Little things like that.”
The two of them also maintain a constant dialogue on the bench, giving each other tips about certain hitters and their tendencies. It’s helped Sánchez and Luzardo become co-left-handed aces for the Phillies rotation this year.
And as far as the strikeouts go, Sánchez and Luzardo view 200 as a cool feather to place in their cap and not much more. Luzardo said he sets goals for himself at the start of every spring training that he hopes to reach, like 200 innings or 200 strikeouts. But it’s only at the end of the year when he looks back and evaluates his overall progress.
On a day-to-day, the focus isn’t the milestones.
“That’s just kind of like on the side for me,” Luzardo said. “Really, at the end of the day, winning a World Series, even if I threw 100 innings, it would be unbelievable.”
