Remarkable is one way to describe what Cristopher Sánchez and Kyle Schwarber did for the Phillies in 2025.
Ask anyone.
Both mainstays — and both fresh off new contracts — wasted no time looking the part again on a sun-splashed, patriotic Opening Day at Citizens Bank Park.
From the moment his cleat clipped the dirt alongside the rubber, Sánchez was in complete control.
The left-hander picked up right where he left off: 10 strikeouts over six scoreless innings, no walks, and a dominant start in a 5-3 win over the Rangers.
His changeup, the signature pitch that fueled his breakout, was borderline untouchable. For context, opponents hit .169 against it last season. Sánchez threw more changeups than anyone in baseball in 2025, nearly 100 more than the next-highest pitcher.
On Thursday, he went to it 31 percent of the time and generated a 52 percent swing-and-miss rate on the pitch. His 45.1 whiff rate on the changeup last year ranked third in Major League Baseball.
That’s a tough bar to clear. Sánchez still found a way.
His 10 strikeouts were the most in a Phillies Opening Day start since Curt Schilling fanned 11 Dodgers in a complete-game shutout in April 1997.
The Phillies didn’t need to pile on, but the early jolt mattered. And it came fast.
Kyle Schwarber lifted off in the first inning with a two-run homer to left-center, a moonshot that scraped the sunny afternoon sky and gave Sánchez all the cushion he would need.
The matchup on paper wasn’t forgiving. Texas opened with Nathan Eovaldi, who was masterful last season with a 1.73 ERA in 22 starts.
Schwarber got him anyway.
He turned on a 1-2 curveball and sent it a few rows beyond the Yuengling sign in left-center. Eovaldi’s curveball was a big reason he kept hitters off balance in 2025. Opponents hit .096 against it, and he allowed just two homers on the pitch all year.
The first breaking ball he threw in the regular season landed in the seats.
Schwarber is already on a loud pace after a 2025 season in which he clubbed 56 homers and drove in a league-leading 132 runs.
The Phillies re-upped Schwarber on a five-year, $150 million deal this past offseason to keep the 33-year-old designated hitter in red pinstripes. His leadership in the clubhouse is second to none, and his ability to set the tone has long made his value hard to quantify.
The club’s rookie center fielder, Justin Crawford, made his debut Thursday. And he did what has made him so good in the minor leagues.
Hit.
The 22-year-old tallied a pair of singles in his debut. His first big-league knock came on the first pitch that he saw.
Not a half-bad start for Crawford, who was the Phils’ first-round selection back in 2022 and hit .322 in pro ball.
With the All-Star Game coming to Philadelphia this summer, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Sánchez take the ball for the National League and Schwarber find his way into the lineup. The slugger could also be in the mix for the Home Run Derby.
It’s the nation’s 250th anniversary, and the Phillies opened that milestone year with a clean win and two familiar stars setting the tone early.
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