The latest on Cristopher Sánchez

NEW YORK — The Phillies, for now, believe Cristopher Sánchez has avoided a serious injury.

The Phillies’ No. 2 starter was removed from Tuesday night’s game after two innings due to left forearm soreness. He was checked by a doctor and did mobility exercises with the training staff. He tested out well, leading the Phillies to believe that there is no structural damage.

“I feel positive that we’re not going to have to be worrying about this,” Sánchez said Tuesday night.

The morning after, Sánchez told the training staff that he wanted to go play catch. That will happen on Friday.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said early Wednesday that Sánchez’s entire body was “achy” on Tuesday. For now, they are attributing his early exit on Tuesday more to general body soreness than forearm issues.

“That’s the reason why they don’t think it’s anything structural at all,” Dombrowski said.

They are not ready to order an MRI exam, but they will if Sánchez’s arm bothers him again when he plays catch before Friday’s game against the Cubs in Chicago.

“We’re going to err on the side of caution if we think there is any chance of anything beyond,” Dombrowski said. “We definitely would take the next step and MRI him, but right now [the trainers] are just saying, ‘Dave, he’s fine, really.’ That’s what they are saying.”

The Phillies have scheduling flexibility with the off days on Thursday and Monday. Sánchez’s next start isn’t until Tuesday. The team, according to Dombrowski, hasn’t seriously discussed pushing his next outing back, but they could easily move Zack Wheeler up a day and have him pitch on five days rest.

Activating Ranger Suárez (low back stiffness) off the injured list and having him start on Sánchez’s day doesn’t sound like an option. The Phillies want Suárez to make one more rehab start on Sunday. He came out fine after throwing five innings and 59 pitches for Lehigh Valley on Tuesday. The Phillies wanted him to get stretched out to 75 pitches, but he got too many quick outs.

Dombrowski expects Suárez to rejoin the rotation after his final scheduled rehab start. He could make his first start with the Phillies as early as May 2 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

More depth is coming. The Phillies could theoretically survive during the regular season without Sánchez, but they would miss him. Through his first four starts, Sánchez had a 2.96 ERA. His average fastball velocity is up by more than a mile per hour at 95.7. He went from averaging 92.1 mph on his fastball in 2023 to 94.4 in 2024. There is no limit to what Sánchez can accomplish as a Phillie, but they have to keep him healthy.