Phillies' Cristopher Sanchez's slider is better than ever thanks to one small change

Phillies' Cristopher Sanchez's slider is better than ever thanks to one small change originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Philadelphia Phillies have some of the best pitching in all of Major League Baseball, with Cristopher Sanchez having a strong case for the Cy Young award out of the National League.

He was the runner-up last year, and this season, he's looked good. One of the reasons why he could be in store for another huge season is a very small change he made to one of his pitch grips. As David Adler of MLB.

com shared, Sanchez made a small tweak to his slider grip, and it's a lot sharper than before, with a ridiculous five inches of drop more than the average slider in MLB. Cristopher Sanchez made small tweak for big gains "Sanchez is now spiking his left index finger when he throws his slider, and the pitch is looking a lot different as a result," Adler writes. "The Phillies' ace has added four whole inches of drop on his slider without sacrificing velocity (the pitch is still coming in between 85-86 mph).

" This small tweak, just changing his slider grip with one of his fingers, has resulted in a significant change to the break on this put-out pitch. He's getting four inches more drop than usual. Adler noted how this pitch had "2 1/2 inches more drop than an average slider" last season.