Sánchez added to NL roster, giving Phillies 8 (!) All-Stars

PHILADELPHIA — A few minutes after 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, Cristopher Sánchez sat at his locker in a nearly empty Phillies clubhouse, slowly fastening the buttons on a brand new All-Star Game jersey. The other Phillies All-Stars trickled in one at a time to complete the same ritual and prepare for a photo op that suddenly required one more team member.

Sánchez, the breakout star of the rotation in the first half, was officially named a National League All-Star as a replacement for Braves lefty Chris Sale, who is scheduled to pitch on Sunday and will be unavailable to pitch in Tuesday’s game in Arlington. Phillies manager Rob Thomson learned the news Friday and broke it to the team in a meeting Saturday morning.

“My heart just started beating really fast,” Sánchez said through an interpreter. “I felt like something [might be happening], but I wasn’t sure.”

Sánchez’s selection to the roster gives the NL East-leading Phillies an MLB-best eight All-Stars. Before this season, Philadelphia never had more than five All-Stars in one year. Sánchez is the Phillies’ fifth pitcher selected to the All-Star team this season, joining RHP Zack Wheeler (inactive), LHP Ranger Suárez, RHP Jeff Hoffman and LHP Matt Strahm.

The 27-year-old left-hander earned his nod by going 7-4 with a 2.96 ERA over 18 starts. Sánchez has blossomed not just physically, but emotionally in his second season as a regular in the Phillies rotation, Thomson said.

“He’s gone from a kid — or a young man — to a man, in a short period of time,” Thomson said. “I love when he smiles, when he shows emotion. I really do, because for a long time, I think, he held it in. Now he’s laughing when he needs to laugh. He’s mad at himself when he needs to be mad. He’s just showing emotion. I like that.”

Sánchez showed that side Saturday as fellow All-Star pitchers Strahm and Hoffman greeted him in the clubhouse. The grin remained on his face through most of the ensuing scrum with the media.

“No better feeling than this one right now,” Sánchez said.

Thomson sees Sánchez channeling that emotion on the mound and believes it accounts for much of his growth into a top-level starter.

“The mental side of it, the emotional side, how he can slow a game down,” Thomson said. “He gets into trouble now and he’ll back off the mound, take a deep breath, get his thoughts together, then goes back to attack. That’s something he’s acquired over time. Quite frankly, when he was younger, he didn’t do that.”

Sánchez had plans to visit his family in Santo Domingo over the break, but those are now happily canceled. His wife will join him in Texas.

One Phillie who won’t be with him in Arlington is Thomson. He’s going back home to his native Canada — and driving to get there.

“It’s only nine hours,” he said.

The news wasn’t nearly as good for one of the Phillies’ other All-Star pitchers.

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced that starter Ranger Suárez would not be going to the All-Star Game. Suárez, who has struggled in his last four starts, suffered from low back spasms following his loss against the A’s on Friday.

Dombrowski said that Suárez would not be headed to the injured list and that he is still planning to make his first start after the All-Star break, though that could be pushed back to the second series against the Twins.

“It’s not anything major, but he’s got tightness in his back,” Dombrowski said. “It hurts him in the sense that not only his back hurts, but because he wanted to pitch in the All-Star Game, but he doesn’t think it’s the best thing to do at this time. He wants to be ready for the second half of the season.”

Dombrowski said that to his knowledge, the back tightness wasn’t something Suárez had experienced before. He had not had an MRI as of late Friday night.

Suárez opened the season 10-1 and had a 1.75 ERA in his first 15 starts. He’s thrown 114 innings before the All-Star break, the most at this point of the season in his career.

“He says he’s not worried about it, we’re really not worried about it, but he’s pitched a lot of innings,” Dombrowski said. “I want to make sure he stays fresh. It’s very important for us.”