Philadelphia Phillies: 3 players who shouldn’t be on the playoff roster
By Tim Boyle
2) The Philadelphia Phillies roster doesn’t have room for Cristopher Sanchez in the postseason
Another pitcher who could be hoping to sneak his way onto the Phillies playoff roster is Cristopher Sanchez. This year has been spent going back and forth between the majors and minors while occasionally starting games for the big league Phillies.
A lefty in his mid-20s, Sanchez is someone to keep an eye on as a candidate to have larger role for the Phillies next season. Moving him to the bullpen permanently might not be such a bad idea. A little structure and consistency could do him some good.
In this year’s postseason, the Phillies should stay away from carrying Sanchez. He is an emergency pitching option behind several other guys on their roster. It wouldn’t make sense in a postseason series to have him present regardless of how many games need to be played to advance.
Sanchez hasn’t been nearly as effective as Nelson either. His only real advantage is the arm he throws with. However, with Brad Hand having a superb year and Jose Alvarado doing well, the team is stacked enough with southpaws.
If there’s any role for Sanchez on the postseason roster, it would be for mop-up duties in a game they’re losing. That job would actually be better off for any of the starting pitchers the team has moved into a relief role. They could have as many as three of those options, eliminating Sanchez from the equation quickly.