Cristopher Sánchez amped for Opening Day ‘honor’ as Phillies set starting rotation

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Left-hander Cristopher Sánchez looked into the stands at BayCare Ballpark on Friday afternoon and waved. It’s something he does whenever his fiancee, Kaimary, and his young son, also named Cristopher, come to watch him pitch. “Anytime that you see me waving up there, it’s to say hi to my family,” Sánchez said.

They can expect another greeting on March 26 as the Phillies come home to start the regular season against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park.

Sánchez was officially named the team’s Opening Day starter on Friday, a distinction he now holds for the first time in his career. And even though his child is still barely a toddler, the pitcher is confident that the younger Cristopher will be able to sense the importance of the occasion.

“I think he’ll get it a little,” Sánchez said through a club interpreter with a smile. “He’s 18 months old, but he looks 3, so I hope that he gets a little of what’s going on.”

The rise of Sánchez has been meteoric, and this is just another box he gets to check off. He was an afterthought this time three years ago. He has since become an All-Star, a Game 1 starter in the postseason, last year’s runner-up for the Cy Young Award and now a rotation’s No. 1. The significance is not lost on the 29-year-old.

“What do I think? I mean, it’s a privilege for me,” Sánchez said. “It’s an honor.”

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he told Sánchez on Friday. “He’s earned it,” Thomson said, “and he was pretty fired up about it.” With Zack Wheeler currently on the shelf as he recovers from the surgery he underwent to relieve his thoracic outlet syndrome, Sánchez was the clear choice.

Behind Sánchez, right-hander Aaron Nola will start the second game of the season, and lefty Jesús Luzardo will pitch the finale of the three-game series against Texas. Thomson wanted to separate Sánchez and Luzardo in the rotation.

“If you get them back to back in the same series, it’s a little bit easier for the hitters, I think,” Thomson said. “Putting Nola in between, it’s a different look. You got two power lefties, and you get — not that he’s not a power guy — but he’s a pitcher in between. And I think it keeps them a little bit off balance.”

Veteran Taijuan Walker will start the fourth game of the season as the Phillies host the Washington Nationals. Top prospect Andrew Painter, who has been informed he’ll be breaking camp with the big-league club, will make his major-league debut as the fifth starter.

That rotation will change when Wheeler returns, which could be sooner than later. He’s scheduled to make his next minor-league start at the Carpenter Complex on Monday; he’ll pitch two innings, Thomson said. But for now, the Phillies have their five starters in place, and it all begins with Sánchez at the top.

“It’s something to look forward to, and it’s something to see that’s one of the goals that I’ve accomplished in my career,” Sánchez said. “It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, just to be an Opening Day starter. So I’m looking forward to it, and I’m super excited about it.”