NEW YORK — A day after the Phillies’ No. 2 starter departed a game with forearm soreness, the typical handwringing that comes with an arm injury was nowhere to be found inside the clubhouse. There was no MRI scheduled for Cristopher Sánchez. He asked the team’s athletic training staff to let him play catch Wednesday morning. They advised Sánchez to wait two days, just to be safe.
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It’s typically almost automatic for a pitcher, especially one as important as Sánchez, to undergo some sort of imaging to diagnose whatever is happening inside his arm. But the Phillies declined that step once they learned more about Sánchez’s situation.
“First of all, you don’t always just throw somebody in (the tube),” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Wednesday before the series finale against the New York Mets. “I didn’t even know this at the time: He was achy with his body yesterday. I mean, his whole body. So afterwards, when they checked him structurally, they really didn’t find anything. And today, they’re not finding anything either. So we’re going to take it easy. We’re gonna be careful.”
It doesn’t mean Sánchez won’t eventually go for an MRI. He is slated to play catch Friday morning at Wrigley Field. If his arm still does not feel right, the Phillies will send him for an exam.
They believe, for now, they have dodged a significant injury.
“That’s what we feel right now,” Dombrowski said. “He feels good. I saw him there. The trainer feels good about it. Now, we’ll wait to see. But right now, if you’re asking me, I feel very comfortable that he looks OK.”
Sánchez labored through two innings Tuesday night, needing 58 pitches to record six outs. His fastball velocity dipped lower than normal. Sánchez said he felt “uncomfortable” during his pregame bullpen but did not think it was a physical issue.
The Phillies have some wiggle room. They are off Thursday and next Monday. Zack Wheeler could pitch next Tuesday against the Washington Nationals with one day of extra rest. Taijuan Walker and Aaron Nola could follow him on regular rest. Ranger Suárez (back) will start Sunday at Triple-A Lehigh Valley and return to the Phillies’ rotation after that.
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But Dombrowski wasn’t even sure the Phillies would have to push Sánchez back that far. That is how confident the club is about the lefty’s health.
For now.
“Of course, my alarm went up,” Dombrowski said. “And then I talked to the trainers and read the trainers’ report. His whole body was achy. One of those days. Now, I know most people don’t care if he’s got a headache. But that (the arm) catches your attention. That’s the reason they don’t really think it’s anything major structural at all. But if it bothers him Friday, when he’s due to play catch, well then we can always go back and do an MRI.”
(Photo of Cristopher Sánchez on April 12: Brandon Sloter / Getty Images)
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