Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo have spent the season giving the Phillies a pair of left-handed arms that keep piling up strikeouts, and now they’ve landed in a pretty exclusive corner of MLB history.
The milestone arrived in back-to-back starts. Luzardo got there first on Wednesday, fanning nine Mariners over seven shutout innings on the road in Seattle while allowing just one hit.
That outing pushed him to his 200th strikeout of the season. A few days later, Sánchez matched him against the Angels, throwing seven scoreless innings, giving up two hits, walking one and striking out eight to reach 200 as well.
That made them the third left-handed teammate duo in major league history to record 200-plus strikeouts in consecutive seasons. The only other pairs to do it were Phillies lefties Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels in 2012 and 2013, and Rube Waddell and Eddie Plank for the A’s in 1904 and 1905.
The accomplishment also adds another line to the Phillies’ record book. Luzardo became the 11th pitcher in franchise history with multiple 200-strikeout seasons, and Sánchez followed soon after as the 12th. Philadelphia has had plenty of heavy-duty strikeout arms over the years, including Aaron Nola, who has done it in five seasons, and Zack Wheeler, who has three such seasons.
The numbers near the top of the National League tell the story too. Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski leads the circuit with 222 strikeouts, while Luzardo sits second at 203 and Sánchez is right behind him with 202.
For Luzardo, this isn’t unfamiliar territory. He also reached 200 strikeouts in 2023 with the Miami Marlins, when he finished with 208 strikeouts in 32 starts, going 10-10 with a 3.58 ERA.
Sánchez, meanwhile, is doing it for the first time in back-to-back seasons. He struck out 153 batters in 31 starts for Philadelphia in 2024, finishing 11-9 with a 3.32 ERA.
The timing matters, too. The Phillies have won four straight entering their series with the Diamondbacks, including a road sweep of the Angels in Anaheim, and they’re trying to make a push with a month left in the regular season. Philadelphia trails the Braves by five games in the NL East, and enters play on Aug. 31 up by 4.5 games and tied for the top Wild Card spot.
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