The Phillies bet on three new players with a lot to prove. And the payoffs could be big for all.

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Jesús Luzardo knew exactly how long it had been since he had pitched a competitive inning.

June 16, 2024, was the date of his final start with the Miami Marlins before a stress reaction in his lower back shut him down for the rest of the season. More than eight months separated that day from his return to action in the Grapefruit League, now wearing a Phillies jersey.

“I’m happy about the spring and how it went overall,” he said after his final outing on Saturday. “Ended up healthy, which was huge, got back on the mound, and faced other teams for the first time since last June. So I was happy about that. Worked out some of the kinks that I felt like I needed to work out, worked on some pitches that I needed to work on.”

When the Phillies acquired Luzardo, 27, from Miami over the offseason in exchange for two prospects, they were counting on him recapturing his form from two seasons ago. In 2023, he posted a 3.58 ERA over a career-high 178⅔ innings and was named the Marlins’ Game 1 starter against the Phillies in the National League wild-card series.

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And he isn’t the only player the Phillies took a bet on this winter. In fact, that was somewhat of a theme across their major additions: new bullpen arm Jordan Romano and new outfielder Max Kepler also had injury-abbreviated 2024 seasons.

Romano’s last appearance for the Blue Jays was on May 29 before he underwent surgery for a right elbow impingement. Kepler’s final season in Minnesota ended in September because of patellar tendinitis in his left knee, and he had been playing through a hip injury even before that.

The Phillies sat out the big-ticket free agent pool this year. As they renew their quest for that World Series trophy, they’re hoping that the three new faces with everything to prove could help them get there.

Luzardo’s 9.49 ERA this spring doesn’t exactly jump off the page. But spring training numbers should not be trusted anyway, as pitchers typically are working on specific things instead of focusing on results. And Luzardo had a resounding victory in the category that really mattered: his health.

Compared to last June, when he could barely even tie his own shoes, he’s a different pitcher.

Luzardo made only 12 starts last year, and even before he hit the injured list, he said his back was a lingering problem that diminished his velocity.

So a positive sign that the ’23 Luzardo is back is the numbers on the radar gun.

During his three starts tracked by Statcast this spring, Luzardo’s fastball was in the 96-98 mph range. Last season, his fastball averaged 95.1 mph, down from 96.7 mph in 2023.

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“I feel amazing,” Luzardo said. “My arm, my back, everything feels great. I check off every box in terms of physically. So now it’s just more of being on the mound, getting in that rhythm, finding the rhythm. Slowly, I feel like we’re getting there.”

Renewed velocity is not the only new trick he has up his sleeve. Luzardo got on the phone with Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham the day he was traded, and the pair continued to communicate over the offseason. Part of their discussions included a new pitch.

The lefty has consistently thrown the same four pitches — four-seam, sinker, slider, changeup — in his entire six-year career. He’s played around with a cutter and a curveball, but they didn’t last very long in his arsenal.

But he’s added a sweeper to the mix. Luzardo liked the movement and swing-and-miss he’s seen from the pitch while testing it in the spring. In his last start, he got six whiffs on the 15 sweepers he threw.

He’ll next get to use it on Saturday against the Nationals. Luzardo will start the season second in the rotation in between Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola.

“It’s awesome, being able to get straight in here, a winning team, a great team, and being given that responsibility. I think it’s awesome,” Luzardo said. “But I think it’s just another position in the rotation. … I think we’re all going to shuffle around. I think one to five, one to seven, whatever we have, is amazing, and every guy has a lot of talent and ability, so I’m just happy to be a part of the rotation wherever they slot me.”

Last winter, the Phillies gave Nola the largest contract for a pitcher in franchise history to keep him from departing for a divisional rival. The offseason before, they added Trea Turner with an 11-year megadeal and signed Taijuan Walker for four years. And the year before that, Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos arrived in Philadelphia after agreeing to multiyear deals as free agents.

By comparison, bringing in Kepler, Romano, and swingman Joe Ross on one-year deals wasn’t the flashiest of free agency hauls.

But the Phillies aren’t the only ones betting on Kepler and Romano. The players preferred that contract length because they are betting on themselves, too. If things go well, big paydays could be waiting at the end of the season, from the Phillies or other clubs.

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“I do like the flexibility for us with the one-year deals,” Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies’ president of baseball operations, said during the offseason. “We’re in a situation where we have a lot of long-term contracts. We’ve got some young players coming up through the system that we’re excited about, and we’re very close to getting that impact. So the one-year flexibility doesn’t hurt. Doesn’t mean that we can’t keep guys in the organization beyond that.”

Kepler and Romano left the only major league teams they’ve ever known to come to Philadelphia. The Twins scouted Kepler as a teenager in his native Germany, and he spent 15 years in the organization.

Part of what attracted him to the Phillies was the desire to win all the way into November. Kepler, 32, has played 12 postseason games in his near-decade in the majors and has won only three.

His hip and knee ailments drained a lot of his power in 2024, as Kepler slugged just .380 with a career-low eight homers. But with surgery and recovery now in the rearview mirror, there was no shortage of that in his spring at-bats. In 50 plate appearances, he slugged .675 with three home runs.

Kepler said he worked with hitting coach Kevin Long on some tweaks to his swing, including opening up his legs more and changing the angle of his bat in his stance to give it a more direct path through the zone.

The payoff has been noticeable.

“Every at-bat’s been good,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He sees the baseball so well, and early, it looks like. So he’s either on it or he’s taking it. And he doesn’t chase; he doesn’t get out of the zone very much.”

Apart from a brief stint in the Rangers organization after being selected in the Rule 5 draft, Romano was a true homegrown talent for the Blue Jays. The native of Markham, Ontario, developed into Toronto’s closer, recording 36 saves in each of the two seasons before the elbow injury.

His tenure ended rather unceremoniously, however, when the Blue Jays opted to nontender him at the deadline in November. Shortly after he signed with the Phillies, Romano said that had been “a little surprising” for him.

Romano, who will be 32 in April, said early in the spring that he will know he’s officially back to his old self when he’s able to beat hitters with his fastball again, something he struggled with in 2024. His four-seam had just a 6.5% whiff rate last year.

“I guess the swings will tell me,” Romano said.

By that metric, he has largely succeeded. The 57 fastballs Romano threw this spring had a 28% whiff rate, and an .083 batting average against them. The right-hander did not allow an earned run over nine appearances and had a 0.690 WHIP.

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Romano likely will not be the Phillies’ sole closer, as Thomson historically has avoided using that label. Romano instead will join a committee of late-game options, including José Alvarado, who slimmed down and spent the spring throwing high heat; Matt Strahm, who came back from injury with a new changeup; and Orion Kerkering, who is already seasoned at nearly 24 years old. Romano said he’s fine with that and is ready for any role.

And if that role includes being given the ball late in a game in November, the Phillies will know one of their bets has paid off.

“We added some pretty good upside guys,” Bryce Harper said. “If they pitch to their ability or play to their ability, they’re going to be really good for us. So we have a really good opportunity. Obviously, we have the guys in this clubhouse to do that. If we just do our job and play the game the right way and play to our ability, we will be where we need to be by season’s end.”