Cristopher Sanchez has been named the Game 1 starter for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic by manager Albert Pujols.
DUNEDIN, Fla. – Albert Pujols is widely considered to be the best position player to ever come out of the baseball hotbed that is the Dominican Republic. So, you can imagine how Cristopher Sanchez, also a son of the DR, felt when Pujols reached out to him this winter and told him he’d be starting Game 1 of the World Baseball Classic for his homeland.
“It’s like a dream come true for me,” Sanchez said after pitching two impressive innings for the Phillies in his spring debut against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday. “I feel like a kid at a candy store. “Never in my life would I ever have dreamed something like this would happen. I never thought I was going to get to this level. To be able to represent my country is not just pride, it’s a pleasure for me. To go represent my country, my teammates, my family -- it’s just an amazing feeling.”“He’s someone you can look up to and admire,” Sanchez said. “A Hall of Famer, obviously. It’s a pleasure.” Sanchez, the National League’s Cy Young runner-up last season, will get the ball in the DR’s first game Friday night against Nicaragua in Miami.“We not only talk about Game 1,” Sanchez said. “We’ve been talking back and forth about the game plans and what we’re going to do during the tournament.”“Go out and compete, give your best,” he said. “Go out and win every game, every inning, every moment. We have to play it to win. Go out and give the best of ourselves as a team and go out and win it.” Per WBC rules, Sanchez will be on a 65-pitch limit in his Game 1 start. If those 65 pitches are as good as the 32 that he threw in his two innings of work against the Jays on Saturday, the DR may be tough to beat. Sanchez threw 22 strikes. His sinking fastball averaged 95 mph. He topped out at 97. And his changeup, one of the best in baseball, was superb. He got a swing and miss on all seven that he threw. Three of his four strikeouts came in the second inning, all on changeups. When a reporter pointed out that his changeup was excellent, Sanchez countered: “Do you find that weird?” He then laughed. Clearly, he has great confidence in the pitch – even at this early stage of camp. “It’s been looking great since I reported to camp,” Sanchez conceded. “If it’s like that early on, you just have to take it.”“He was really good,” Thomson said. “His command was good. The changeup was filthy, which is good to see this early in the spring.”March arrives on Sunday and it’s going to be a big month for Sanchez. In addition to getting the Game 1 start for his country in the WBC, he’s expected to be the Phillies’ opening day starter March 26 against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park. Sanchez has earned the honor. He set career bests across the board last season – wins , ERA , innings and strikeouts . The Phillies’ starting staff led the majors with 84 quality starts, 12 more than any other team. Sanchez had 22 of them, which tied him for the most in baseball with Logan Webb and Garrett Crochet.“Continue at the top,” he said of his goal for the new season. “Continue at this level and try to do it year in and year out.”
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