Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez opening MLB scouts eyes at Spring Training

The Phillies locked up the top two pitchers in their rotation this offseason with both Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler getting new deals before the start of the 2024 season.

While they have been tied to other free agent names like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, there is one pitcher in-house that could make a bigger impact in 2024.

ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan came up with the 10 players scouts are buzzing about about at Spring Training with one Phillies pitcher appearing on his list.

Get our free mobile app

Here is the Phillies pitcher who scouts have been impressed with in Clearwater

Christopher Sánchez.

Sánchez has been experimenting with a cutter this spring and has added two-MPH to his fastball to go along with his excellent change-up.

Betting on 27-year-old pitchers to take the leap can be a fool's errand, but the early indications make Sanchez a real candidate to do so. If he can join Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez for a full season in the rotation and continue to generate ground balls -- his 57% rate was fourth among all MLB pitchers with at least 90 innings last season -- the Phillies' hopes of catching the Atlanta Braves in the NL East get that much better.

The 27-year-old southpaw cut down on his walks last season, which allowed him to become a more consistent starter, which saw him have a career-best 3.44 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 96 strikeouts and just 16 walks across 99.1  innings (19 appearances, 18 starts) for the Phillies.

He also made one start in the playoffs, getting the ball over veteran Taijuan Walker in the NLCS against Arizona.

If the Phillies can get a big season from Sánchez ,it could go a long way in them finally getting over the hump in the playoffs and earn their first World Series since 2008.