Jesús Luzardo says he’s healthy and hopes to return to form with the Phillies
Acquired in a trade with the Marlins, Luzardo has undeniable talent, but the only question is his durability. He says he’s pain-free after a back injury cut his 2024 season short.
Forget about trying to throw a baseball. When Jesús Luzardo awoke on June 16, he could barely do the most basic daily tasks.
“Tying my shoes, bending over to brush my teeth,” he said Monday, “it definitely affected me in a lot of different ways.”
Somehow, Luzardo pitched five innings that day in the Marlins’ 3-1 loss in Washington. He didn’t make another start for the rest of the season. Diagnosed with a stress reaction in his lower back — a weakened bone near the spine caused by repetitive stress — he went on the injured list June 22 and didn’t resume playing catch until late September.
But the Phillies’ doctors and training staff were satisfied with Luzardo’s medical reports and signed off on a Dec. 22 swap. The Phillies added the 27-year-old lefty to the deepest rotation in the National League for two minor leaguers, including 19-year-old shortstop prospect Starlyn Caba.
Luzardo’s talent is undeniable. He unleashes his fastball in the mid- and upper-90s and changes speeds with a slider and changeup. The Marlins gave him the ball for Game 1 of a playoff series against the Phillies in 2023. He started opening day for Miami last season.
The only question is durability. He missed two months in 2022 because of a strained forearm and made only 12 starts en route to a 5.00 ERA last season. But feast your eyes on what he’s capable of when healthy: 32 starts, 178⅔ innings, 208 strikeouts, and a 3.58 ERA in 2023.
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“Being back to being healthy, I think that there are certain things that I was doing in ‘22 and ‘23, maybe in the way of attacking guys or different little things I can do in my game-planning,” Luzardo said on a Zoom call, his first comments since the trade. “I would say the health was probably the root of the problem, and now that that’s gone, we can get back to what it was.”
It marks the third time Luzardo has been traded since he got drafted in the third round by the Nationals in 2016. As a prospect, he went to the Athletics in a 2017 deadline deal that brought veteran relievers Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle to Washington; in 2021, the A’s shipped him to the Marlins for outfielder Starling Marte.
This time, Luzardo said he “could kind of see the writing on the wall.” Miami is in another rebuilding cycle, and Luzardo’s 2025 salary will rise to approximately $6 million through arbitration. Although he’s under team control through 2026, the Marlins aren’t expecting to be a playoff contender in that window.
So, Luzardo wasn’t surprised when his phone rang on Dec. 22, as he was about to go fishing with a friend near his home in South Florida.
“I got the call right before I got out on the boat,” Luzardo said. “It was not what I expected on a Sunday morning, but it wasn’t terrible. I’ve seen a lot of players before find out on social media or whatever it might be, so I was glad I was able to get the news directly from the source.”
The Phillies believe the injury caused Luzardo to be compromised last season. His fastball velocity was notably diminished over his final five starts.
But Luzardo is going through his typical offseason throwing program. If anything, he said he started a week or two earlier than usual because his body didn’t need to recover from the toll of pitching a full season. He trains at the same West Palm Beach gym as top Phillies prospect Andrew Painter, slated to make his major-league debut midway through next season.
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“Oh yeah, I know Painter a good bit,” Luzardo said. “I’ve known him, been following him, rooting him on, and now looking forward to sharing a clubhouse with him this year. Great kid, hard worker, and he’s a stud.”
The Phillies set out in the offseason to change the mix of the lineup but came up with only a one-year, $10 million deal with free-agent outfielder Max Kepler. Their bigger moves involved the pitching staff: free-agent reliever Jordan Romano and swingman Joe Ross, and Luzardo.
Luzardo will slot into the back of a rotation that is headlined by Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. With Cristopher Sánchez, Ranger Suárez, Luzardo, Ross, and eventually Painter, the Phillies believe they have better depth to withstand a six-month season.
A healthier season from Luzardo would help a lot.
Last week, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski suggested Luzardo’s back condition will never fully resolve but said the team’s medical staff is confident that it can be managed. Luzardo said doctors told him the injury is unlikely to reoccur.
“After I took time off, every doctor I saw told me the same thing: These things actually heal really well, and once it happens once, it usually doesn’t happen again,” Luzardo said. “From what I’ve understood, it’s something that, once it does heal, it calcifies or whatever it might do, hardens up, and then you don’t have an issue again.
“I’ve been able to go get off the mound, do everything I’ve needed to do without any pain, with no symptoms. Haven’t really even thought of it. Haven’t felt it. Hopefully it’s just kind of behind me and then we move forward and never have to think about it again.”
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