MLB insider hails Phillies pitcher after making Shohei Ohtani 'uncomfortable' in dominant outing

Philadelphia Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez had a dominant outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. He may have yielded four runs to the vaunted offense, but he struck out nine in 5.2 innings, and he helped his team get the first series win anyone's had against the Dodgers in 2025.

The Phillies took two of three thanks in no small part to Sanchez's incredible outing, and it prompted some praise from MLB insider Mark DeRosa of MLB Network.

All things aside, the insider believes Sanchez's dominance of Shohei Ohtani, which began with a first-inning strikeout, is the biggest indicator that he pitched well.

DeRosa said:

"What I saw out of him yesterday, nine strikeouts? ... Shohei Ohtani had no answer for him. He's the first guy that I've seen Shohei go up and get in a box against that he looks really uncomfortable. You see him on his front foot, he doesn't know what's coming. He's presenting a massive problem."

The Dodgers did knock him around a little bit for four runs thanks to Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman. Hernandez had two home runs and a double, but Sanchez was otherwise strong.

---

Shohei Ohtani inches closer to return to mound

Shohei Ohtani might've had a difficult outing at the plate last time out, but he's nearing a return to the mound to return the favor to MLB hitters soon. The Los Angeles Dodgers star continues to ramp up his rehab.

Shohei Ohtani threw a successful bullpen (Imagn)

Ohtani tossed a 26-pitch bullpen session, and manager Dave Roberts called it "positive." He added, via ESPN:

"It's a week, but then there's also the one in between, where he touches the mound on a Thursday. And I think it's just more trying to keep him on a similar seven-day program, and what the schedule would look [like] going out, and build from there."

The Dodgers were targeting a May return to the mound for the reigning National League MVP, and that may very well still be in play. The two-way star last pitched in 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels.

He'd join a rotation with Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki among other stars, but the Dodgers want to be cautious with him to make sure their $700 million investment isn't put at risk by returning too soon.