CLEARWATER, Fla. — It had been 257 days since Jesús Luzardo last appeared in a game. He’s memorized the date. “First outing against another team since, like, June 16th of last year,” Luzardo said Friday afternoon after he made his Phillies debut. Typically, Luzardo said he’ll feel some anxiety before a start — spring training or not.
But he knows his body. He knew how it felt last June 16th; the final fastball he threw that day was 92.1 mph. His back hurt.
It was different now. No anxiety this time.
“This was a little more (feeling) of excitement,” Luzardo said.
Consider it a decent first impression. His fastball sat 97 mph in a two-inning start against the Boston Red Sox. He touched 98 mph. His changeup had life. He faced a Boston lineup filled with minor-league hitters and needed 19 pitches to record six outs. The results mattered less than the underlying measurements.
Luzardo looked more like the 2023 version — a promising lefty who threw hard, logged a career-high in innings and was tabbed as a Game 1 starter for a postseason series.
J.T. Realmuto was an opponent that night in the Phillies-Marlins Wild Card Series; he’s seen 99 mph fastballs from Luzardo before. He’s 2-for-16 with five strikeouts lifetime against Luzardo. The Phillies have never had a lefty starter who can throw as hard as Luzardo. He is 27 years old.
Realmuto gushed about his newest toy.
“I feel like we have No. 1 and maybe four No. 2s,” Realmuto said. “It’s kind of how it feels like, honestly. So I don’t know where he slots in, but it’s a great problem to have that we don’t know who’s after No. 1, really.”
Maybe that is hyperbole. Maybe not.
“It was a lot of fun,” Realmuto said. “Electric stuff. I’ve had to try to hit him for five, six years now. So, finally getting to catch him and getting to work with him on the other side was certainly fun. We saw who he is today. He pounds the strike zone. Really attacks the hitters and gets a lot of weak contact. It’s going to be fun to work with him.”
Luzardo, to begin the season, might slot fourth. The Phillies could open with Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Aaron Nola in Washington. Then, Luzardo would have the home opener against Colorado. Regardless, the Phillies are optimistic that Luzardo can pitch better than a back-of-the-rotation starter.
There will be speed bumps; keeping Luzardo sharp and healthy for six months is a challenge. He’s eclipsed 101 innings in the majors only once in his career. The Phillies can be proactive with managing Luzardo’s workload, but as far as he’s concerned, it is not an issue. He had a normal offseason. He started throwing even a little earlier than normal because he missed so much time last season.
That’s why he was confident about his body entering Friday’s unveiling.
“I like to come into camp ready to go,” Luzardo said.
“The stuff,” manager Rob Thomson said, “was better than what I thought we were going to see.”
Six up, six down in Luzardo’s first outing as a Phil 🙌 pic.twitter.com/qaugpXxFdZ
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) February 28, 2025
Luzardo had a 3.25 ERA in 36 regular-season innings against the Phillies with 45 strikeouts and seven walks. The Phillies knew what kind of pitcher he was when right. Thomson has enjoyed seeing Luzardo up close this spring.
“He’s kind of quiet, unassuming,” Thomson said. “But when he gets on the mound, he gets after it. And I did see that when he was with Miami. But you really see it when you’re up close. Even doing his bullpens and throwing BP. He’s very competitive.”
After the December trade to acquire him, Luzardo said the Phillies had floated some different ideas about how he could attack hitters. The coaches haven’t yet implemented any major changes to his arsenal; they’re content to let him find his bearings and focus on health this spring. They did give Luzardo a sweeping slider, a tick harder than his trademark slider that has more downward movement. He threw a sweeping slider at 88 mph in Friday’s game.
“My go-to slider’s been my bread and butter my whole career,” Luzardo said. “So that’s something we don’t want to mess with. We’re exploring other avenues of getting guys out. So, spring is the time to work on that.”
Realmuto is supportive of the idea.
“It’s something he can mix in to righties, maybe for a strike back door,” Realmuto said. “I think it can be a real weapon for him against lefties because it’s a little bigger. Maybe a little more swing-and-miss to those guys with two strikes. And that’s kind of how he’s been using it. So far, it’s looked like a really solid pitch.”
It won’t become a major part of Luzardo’s pitch mix — just a tweak. Realmuto was impressed most Friday by Luzardo’s changeup, which sat 88 mph. Luzardo threw four changeups to the minor-league Red Sox hitters. They whiffed at it all four times.
“I remember it being a good pitch, but his changeup looks like it’s gotten even better this season,” Realmuto said. “His fastball velo is there. The command with the fastball. His stuff is electric.”
There will be greater tests ahead. But reclaiming his fastball velocity on the last day of February felt like an important milestone for Luzardo.
His confidence was not misplaced.
“It definitely feels like I’m back and healthy,” Luzardo said. “It’s not forced. It’s not overexerting myself. It’s just more free and easy, working down the mound. The arm just feels alive again.”
(Photo: Kim Klement Neitzel / Imagn Images)
