As the Phillies battle the rival New York Mets for a National League East title, both teams traded for pitching.
Thankfully, Philadelphia’s starting rotation is the envy of the league, starring Zack Wheeler, the Venezuelan Ranger Sanchez, and the athletic, left-handed Cristopher Sanchez.
In November 2019, former Phillies General Manager Matt Klentak quietly made a trade for the skinny Dominican pitcher, giving up an Australian infielder named Curtis Mead, who has barely gotten 320 at-bats during his Major League career. Today, Sanchez has become such an elite starting pitcher, he is in a statistical dead heat with teammate Wheeler for best pitcher on the team and could be a Cy Younger Award candidate.
He reminds me of Cole Hamels, who, like Sanchez, baffled hitters with a good fastball and a devastating change-up. If Sanchez pitches like the 2008 Hamels, who dominated the playoffs and helped the Phillies win a championship, he could help this 2025 team win the World Series.
Unlike Sanchez and the starting rotation, the Phillies bullpen has struggled. After Jose Alvarado was suspended for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, Phillies President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski, needed to trade for a dominant reliever. He hopes he found the answer in Jhoan Duran — a Dominican from a town called Esperanza.
Like Alvarado, Duran can throw 100 mph regularly and dominate Major League hitters. Unlike Alvarado, he is available to pitch this postseason. The Phillies can now match the New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz with a true closer of their own who can dominate the end of a game.
If you go to Citizens Bank Park and Duran is called to close a game, get your phones out, dance to Farruko’s El Incomprendido and enjoy the show!
Michael Collazo is CEO of Dahday, LLC. Follow his Substack at dahdaytix.substack.com