Staff and Wire Reports

The Phillies have agreed to a new six-year contract with opening day starter Cristopher Sánchez.

The deal announced Sunday for last season’s NL Cy Young Award runner-up begins in 2027 and will run through 2032 with a club option for 2033.

Sánchez had been pitching under a $22.5 million, four-year contract that was through 2028, but according to The Athletic, this new deal will pay him $107 million in guarantees.

“I’m so proud of being here and it shows the commitment this team has that they reward my work,” Sanchez said through an interpreter at the team’s spring training complex in Clearwater. “It’s a great commitment and I appreciated the team doing this. It’s truly fantastic.”

He went 13-5 with a 2.50 ERA in 32 starts last season and struck out a career-high 212 batters. He’s 30-21 overall in four full big league seasons.

Sanchez had two team option years that President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski said were going to be exercised so it made sense to work on an extension.

“We thought with somebody of Cristopher’s stature that he’ll continue to pitch we’d rather get this done now while he’s still at the age that makes sense for us,” Dombrowski said. “He works extremely hard. The inquisitive nature in continuing trying to get better and improve his breaking ball. I think, also, Caleb (Cotham) and the pitching staff members have helped him a great deal. Those are all things that contribute, but first and foremost is the hard work, effort and ability that he has. You also realize that when he has the ability and signs a deal there is no thought process that ok that’s it. He wants to be the best and he’ll be driven to do that.”

Originally signed by the Tampa Bay Rays as an amateur free agent in 2013, Sánchez was acquired in a trade by the Phillies on Nov. 20, 2019, for infielder Curtis Mead.

Mead played in just 41 games for the Chicago White Sox last season while Sánchez has blossomed into one of the best pitchers in baseball and helped key the Phillies’ run to consecutive NL East titles in 2024 and 2025.

The Phillies want to keep their postseason run going — four straight appearances headed into 2026 — and have locked up all veteran members of their staff to long-term deals.

Jesús Luzardo earlier this month finalized a $135 million, five-year contract that starts in 2027. Zack Wheeler has a $126 million deal through the 2027 and Aaron Nola a $172 million, seven-year agreement through 2030. Rookie Andrew Painter is under team control through 2031 and earned the fifth starter spot in the rotation.

The Phillies also announced their opening day roster on Sunday, one that includes 11 different faces from the opening squad in 2025.

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Rafael Marchan made the roster for the second straight season at the expense of Garret Stubbs, to back up J.T. Realmuto. The Phillies will look to trade Stubbs, who could end up designated for assignment and pass through waivers.

Dylan Moore won the final bench spot. He joins Bryce Harper, Bryson Stott, Trea Turner, Alec Bohm and Edmundo Sosa as the primary infielders. Rookie Justin Crawford, Adolis Garcia, Brandon Marsh and Otto Kemp are the outfielders. Kyle Schwarber is the DH.

Moore beat out veteran outfielder Bryan Del La Cruz for the last bench spot.

Wheeler (recovery from venous thoracic outlet syndrome) will start the season on the injured list.

The bullpen brought a couple of surprises. Right-hander Orion Kerkering will start the season in the injured list with a right hamstring strain, which the organization anticipates being a short stint. Kerkering has thrown only one inning in spring. Max Lazar, who has been dealing with what the club has called a mild oblique injury since early March, is also on the IL. He threw three innings this spring.

In addition to back-end veterans Jhoan Duran, Brad Keller, Jose Alvarado, Tanner Banks and Jonathan Bowlan, the opening day bullpen will include Upper Perkiomen grad Tim Mayza as well as righty Zach Pop and lefty Kyle Backhus.

Pop, 29, stands 6-4 and posted a 3.86 ERA with nine strikeouts and a 1.07 WHIP in 9.1 innings pitched this spring. He’s a veteran of 163 big league games with Miami, Toronto, Seattle and the Mets since debuting in 2021.

Backhus has been effective this year with his funky arm angles and delivery from the left side. Teh 28-year-old has a 1.29 ERA in seven spring outings. He went 0-3 with a 4.62 ERA in 25.1 innings over 32 appearances for Arizona last year.

Keller was signed as a free agent from the Chicago Cubs. Bowlan is a veteran of 37 career big-league games with Kansas City over the last three seasons, acquired via trade in the Matt Strahm deal.

Among those missing the cut are Zach McCambley, the Rule 5 pick who has been returned to the Marlins. McCambley allowed only one run in 7.1 innings in spring.