Cristopher Sanchez is a real, bona fide, Cy Young contender

Yes, you, Cristopher!

There’s a full count. It’s the 8th inning of mid-July interleague game against the Boston Red Sox. Citizens Bank Park is sold out. The Phillies lead 4-1, there’s a runner on second and there are two out.

As he approached 100 pitches, Sanchez knew this could be his final pitch of the night. Leadoff hitter Rob Refsnyder, who earlier in the game accounted for Boston’s lone run with a solo home run off Cristopher Sanchez, stood in the box awaiting a payoff pitch that he had to know was going to be one of the lanky left-hander’s signature changeups.

Sanchez obliged. Refsnyder did what virtually every other hitter has done against Sanchez in these kinds of spots all season.

A fired-up Sanchez screamed in delight, pounded his glove with his hand, and strode off the mound in a display of emotion that is usually reserved for the heat of a September pennant race, energized by yet another signature moment in a season that has been full of them for him. Manager Rob Thomson delighted the fans by sending Sanchez out to complete the game in the 9th, which he did with a breezy 1-2-3 frame against the heart of a Red Sox lineup that is 5th in the Majors in runs scored and OPS.

His final line: 9 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 12 Ks, 0 BBs

This isn’t a new trend.

In 20 starts, Sanchez has allowed more than three runs once. ONE time. And in that outing, his second start of the season, he gave up four. He has allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last 10 starts, good for a 1.67 ERA. He’s struck out 69 and walked 12 in 70 innings during that stretch. In his last seven starts, the ERA is 1.40. Sanchez is keeping in some pretty rare company right now.

Greg Maddux and Clayton Kershaw.

Matt Klentak’s trade for Sanchez has become one of the best deals of the last quarter century. He’s no longer simply a better-than-expected, middle-of-the-rotation starter.

He’s an ace and a legitimate Cy Young contender. And by the end of the season, it’s entirely possible he could win the dang thing.

Sanchez’s numbers mirror Wheelers’ in many respects. He trails Wheeler in ERA (2.40 to 2.39) and fWAR (3.9 to 3.6) but leads in bWAR (5.2 to 5.1), and when compared to the top-five starters in baseball, Sanchez is right there with them in every category.

Without Aaron Nola this season, the Phillies desperately needed someone to elevate his game and slide in as the team’s No. 2 starter. Sanchez has done more than that. As Wheeler’s co-ace, he gives the team another dominant arm capable of shutting down the best offenses, a bat-missing, efficient arm that could become the team’s most important weapon come October.

In a short series, a 1-2 punch of Wheeler and Sanchez makes the Phillies a very difficult team to beat.

Much of his success is due to his perfection of the changeup. Not since the days of Cole Hamels in his prime has a Phillies pitcher mastered that pitch as well as Sanchez. Baseball Savant rates it as one of the five best pitches in the sport.

Only Tarik Skubal, the unquestioned best pitcher in baseball right now, has a superior changeup, based on Run Value. But based on batting average, Sanchez is superior, holding opponents to a .136 average on his changeup and a microscopic slugging percentage of .169, compared to Skubal’s .157 and .203. Skubal has allowed a 27.2% hard-hit rate on the pitch compared to Sanchez’ 22.8.

It is the pitch that has allowed him to dominate any lineup, even one that features a slew of quality right-handed hitters. Predictably, Sanchez has held left-handers to a stifling .165/.255/.176 slash line and a wOBA of .210, but righties are hitting just .238/.290/.346 against him, with a wOBA of .282. He’s got a better strikeout ratio against right-handers (9.83) than left-handers (9.35) and is walking fewer righties (2.30) as well (2.42 vs. left-handers).

It allows him to see lineups a third time through the order, something you never see in the postseason. But his emergence as a bona fide ace gives Thomson the flexibility of stretching him into the 7th or even the 8th innings of a postseason game, especially when he’s twirling like this.

Cristopher Sanchez is the best left-handed pitcher in the National League. This is not debatable.

In the next few weeks, Nola will rejoin the rotation. No one knows what he’s going to bring to the table, but it’s remarkable the team hasn’t really missed him in his absence. Much of that is because Sanchez has stepped into the role Nola has held as Wheeler’s running buddy for the last five years.

It’s unlikely Sanchez will earn more Cy Young votes than his teammate Wheeler or Skenes at season’s end, but the fact he could even be a finalist is remarkable.

And boy, have the Phillies needed it.