This story was excerpted from Paul Casella's Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
PHILADELPHIA -- It's not easy to overshadow Cristopher Sánchez these days.
But no one will blame you if you can't rattle off Sánchez's line from his latest outing on Friday night, when Bryce Harper hit for the cycle and Kyle Schwarber blasted three home runs -- including two in the same inning.
Sánchez -- who, oh by the way, tossed six innings of one-run ball -- summed it up best.
“They stole the show from me tonight,” a laughing Sánchez said afterward via team interpreter Diego D'Aniello.
Make no mistake, though, Sánchez is still putting on quite a show of his own.
The Phillies left-hander quietly reached the halfway mark of his season in that historic contest on Friday night -- and he's in some otherworldly company.
Through 16 starts this season, Sánchez has a 1.80 ERA and 121 strikeouts over 105 innings.
Only 10 other pitchers in MLB history have had an ERA of 1.80 or better and 120-plus strikeouts over at least 105 innings through their first 16 starts of a season. Here are the names on that list (asterisk indicates that pitcher won the Cy Young Award that season):
• Justin Verlander (2018)
• Clayton Kershaw (2014*, '16)
• Pedro Martínez (1997*, 2000*)
• Randy Johnson (2000*)
• Roger Clemens (1997*)
• Dwight Gooden (1985*)
• Steve Carlton (1980*)
• Vida Blue (1971*)
• Sam McDowell (1968)
• Sandy Koufax (1963*, '66*)
As if that list wasn't impressive enough, now consider the fact that Sánchez has walked only 20 batters this season. The only pitchers from that list to also have fewer than even 25 walks are Verlander, Kershaw and Martínez.
So to recap, the only pitchers in MLB history to match Sánchez's ERA, strikeouts, walks and innings total through the first 16 starts of a season are a first-ballot Hall of Famer (Martínez) and two surefire Hall of Famers (Verlander and Kershaw).
The other thing those three have in common: They are each a three-time Cy Young Award winner.
Sánchez, who finished as the NL Cy Young runner-up to Paul Skenes last season, is in the hunt for his first career honor. And despite his historic start to the season, he's not even the front-runner for the NL Cy Young Award as things stand right now.
That would be Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski, who leads the Majors in ERA, strikeouts, WHIP and opponents' average.
Sánchez will continue his Cy Young chase on Thursday, when he takes the mound for the series finale against the Nationals in D.C. He has a 2.27 ERA in eight starts against the Nats over the past five seasons, though Washington does have the highest-scoring offense in the Majors this year.
There is obviously plenty of time left for the Cy Young race to sort itself out. One thing is certain, though: If Sánchez's next 16 starts are anything like his first 16, he'll have put together one of the best pitching seasons in not just Phillies history -- but Major League history.