PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies haven’t had a 20-game winner since Roy Halladay won 21 in his National League Cy Young Award season in 2010.
In fact, he’s the only Phillies pitcher to hit that mark since Steve Carlton won 23 in 1982.
If Cristopher Sánchez is going to be the next Phillies pitcher to win 20, he needs four wins in his final four starts of the season. He makes his next start on Wednesday night in the second game of a three-game series against the Astros at Citizens Bank Park.
Sánchez has a NL-leading 16 wins alongside a 2.58 ERA in 29 starts this year. He leads all MLB pitchers with 7.7 bWAR, according to Baseball Reference. He is one of only a few pitchers that could make a case to beat the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski for the NL Cy Young, as the 24-year-old Misiorowski (14-5, 1.97 ERA) is considered the favorite.
It would improve Sánchez’s case if he won 20 games, although more and more BBWAA voters don’t place as much importance on wins as they have in the past.
Regardless, 20 is still a special number for pitchers. If the Phillies remain on schedule the rest of the season, Sánchez could make three more starts following Wednesday’s against the Astros:
• Sept. 15 at Nationals
• Sept. 20 at Mets
• Sept. 26 vs. Rays
Of course, if the Phillies clinch a postseason berth before Sept. 26, which is the final Saturday of the regular season, they could skip Sánchez to prepare him for a potential best-of-three NL Wild Card series.