Phillies Prospects Test Phillies All-Star in Sim Game
CLEARWATER, FL – With the final day of Spring Training upon us, Cristopher Sánchez prepared for his first start of the regular season with a five-inning simulated game at the Carpenter Complex on Monday morning. The 2024 All-Star lefty looked great against a host of Phillies minor leaguers in preparation
CLEARWATER, FL – With the final day of Spring Training upon us, Cristopher Sánchez prepared for his first start of the regular season with a five-inning simulated game at the Carpenter Complex on Monday morning. The 2024 All-Star lefty looked great against a host of Phillies minor leaguers in preparation for his first projected start of the season, the Phillies home opener.
The first inning looked about as good as you could expect from Sánchez, striking out the first two batters with just one of his first eight pitches missing the strike zone. 2024 Thresher Diego González was the first player to put the ball in play, slapping a single to right field before Sánchez struck out the next batter for his third strikeout of the opening frame.
Sánchez showcased his strikeout stuff in the first and focused on inducing weak contact in the second inning, beginning with a dribbler back to the mound for the first out. After Marcus Lee Sang roped a single up the middle, Sánchez got the next batter to ground into an inning-ending double play on the very next pitch.
Nikau Pouaka-Grego began the third frame with a great play at second base, crossing the bag to the shortstop side with a running throw to get the first out on a grounder up the middle. After Raider Tello smoked a double down the left field line, Sánchez rebounded by striking out the next two batters. He was given another batter to practice throwing with two outs, and Zack Arnold blooped a 2-2 pitch to right field, scoring Tello from second base to plate a run.
The strong simulated outing continued into the fourth inning, and Sánchez began to fall behind in a couple of counts. He was behind against the first batter, but worked the count even before recording a strikeout, and fell behind 1-0 to Raylin Heredia before the outfield prospect smashed a ground-rule double to right-centerfield. He came around and scored on what technically would’ve been the final out of the inning, but Sánchez got another 2-out simulated at-bat, resulting in a strikeout after falling behind 2-0 in the count.
In the final inning, the batters rallied with one out in the frame, with Arnold recording his second hit of the day on a one-out double. With two outs in the inning, Luke Davis drove in Arnold with a single for the only run scored in the regular three outs of an inning. After the RBI, Sánchez finished the simulated game with a three-pitch strikeout to end his fifth and final inning.
It was an impressive showing from both sides, one that would’ve yielded just one run in five innings if the simulated game had conformed to normal baseball rules. Sánchez finished with eight strikeouts and one walk allowed, surrendering seven hits with three doubles and four singles. Arnold recorded two hits, a run scored and an RBI, with Heredia and Tello each doubling. Six of the seven minor leaguers who hit were able to record at least one hit off of a 2024 All-Star, and Sánchez certainly looks like his stuff is ready for the season. 2023-24 Thresher Jared Thomas served as the catcher, saying he was impressed with Sánchez’s throwing and that he looks like he’s ready for another big year in Philadelphia.
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