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Why Cristopher Sanchez is still Phillies' team MVP despite awful start vs. Royals originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia Phillies have had a wild 2026 season, as they came back from 9-19 to being 51-41, and just 2.0 games out of the NL East division lead. But the individual players are the story for the Phillies this season.
Bryce Harper's return to being elite, Brandon Marsh being an All-Star, Kyle Schwarber's home-run leading season, and Zack Wheeler's incredible return from injury are all great. Cristopher Sanchez turning into a Cy Young caliber ace is the best story so far.
Bradford Doolittle of ESPN called Sanchez the first-half MVP for the Phillies, and that's even with his awful start against the Kansas City Royals in mind. The reason why he's the MVP and not any other star is simple: his body of work this season is just that impressive.
Why Phillies team MVP is Cristopher Sanchez after bad outing vs. Royals
"First-half MVP: Cristopher Sanchez (139 AXE)," Doolittle writes. "This updated AXE includes Sanchez's head-scratching shellacking Monday at Kansas City, an egg-laying that bolstered Jacob Misiorowski's front-runner status in the Cy Young conversation."
Despite such a terrible start, in which Sanchez allowed nine runs on 12 hits, one walk, three homers, and one strikeout, the beloved left-hander is still the Phillies' team MVP.
This season, Sanchez has 5.0 bWAR, the most of any pitcher in baseball. He also has a 2.62 ERA in 19 starts with a 10-4 record, 137 strikeouts, and a 173 ERA+ in 120.1 innings of work.
MORE:Phillies’ Cristopher Sanchez is planned NL All-Star starter
The rest of the Phillies team, while there are some great players, can't really compare to the value Sanchez has brought to the club this season, despite his awful outing against the Royals.
Schwarber has 2.5 bWAR this season, while Harper has 2.2 and Marsh has 1.8. Wheeler does have 4.3 bWAR this season, and Jesus Luzardo is at 2.4 and Jhoan Duran at 2.2, but Sanchez still takes the top spot overall.
His scoreless May and his record-setting scoreless streak give Sanchez enough of a cushion to avoid losing the Phillies' team MVP nod after his recent terrible outing against the Royals.
While Sanchez will need to avoid further struggles to stay in the Cy Young race and maintain his status as team MVP, what he's done so far, even with a rough few outings lately, is enough to be the Phillies' first-half MVP.
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