Jesús

Luzardo

Many of Luzardo’s troubles this season have come when runners get on base. He allowed the first two batters to reach in the second inning, then struck out the following two and induced a flyout to escape the jam. He held the Marlins scoreless through six before giving up a two-run homer to Esteury Ruiz in the seventh. Luzardo’s day would be done with one out in the seventh at 102 pitches. He generated 16 whiffs to strike out ten batters. The 28-year-old left-hander will look to keep chipping away at his ratios when he takes a 5.09 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and a 51/9 K/BB ratio across 40 2/3 innings into a start against the Rockies in Philadelphia on Friday.

Nola had been lined up to start on Sunday, but they’ll go with Jesus Luzardo there on regular rest. Mattingly wanted to break up the lefties in his rotation, giving a day in-between Luzardo and Cristopher Sanchez. That means Nola will now be scheduled to make two starts next week, though he misses a prime matchup against the Marlins in Miami.

Luzardo gave up two hits, walked none and struck out eight. He improved to 2-3 on the season with the win. Luzardo still has a 5.50 ERA after six starts, but his 2.58 xFIP tells us more good starts are in his future. The 28-year-old left-hander is lined up to face his former team in the Miami Marlins on Sunday.

This was another poor showing by Luzardo who really needs to find his way back to form. Only allowing the one run is a massive step in the right direction, but his command is not where it should be. Too often he missed glove-side with his fastball and continued to fall behind the Cubs’ hitters. Then, when he managed to get ahead, his changeup floated away and his sweeper missed by too much. His 6.91 ERA is higher than every qualified pitcher besides Garrett Crochet and Luzardo has a tall task ahead of him with the Braves up next.

Not good. Luzardo was torched for 12 hits, his highest in a single start since last May he was clearly tipping pitches against the Brewers, including a two-run homer by speedster Nico Hoerner in the fifth inning. He finished with only four strikeouts and issued one walk. The unexpected meltdown raises Luzardo’s ERA from 6.23 to an unsightly 7.93 through four starts. The 28-year-old southpaw will attempt to turn things around in a rematch with the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday. At this point it’s getting challenging for fantasy managers to keep throwing him out there.

After being spotted a four-run lead after the first inning, Luzardo completely imploded in the fifth. He’d cruised to that point with six strikeouts and zero hits allowed over the first four frames. Then, after a hit and a walk to start the fifth, Alek Thomas bunted it back to Luzardo who couldn’t get to it in time which loaded the bases. From there, three hits brought home five runs and Luzardo’s night was over just like that. The big inning continues to do him in. He was also behind in the count too often and struggled to find any consistency with his changeup, two problems that show up a bit too often for him as well. He’ll look to right the ship next time out against the Cubs at home.

Sensational. Luzardo was anything but in his start against the Rangers on Sunday, and while it came against the worst team in baseball, it’s still one of the better starts for any pitcher in 2026. He was able to pick up those 11 strikeout while generating a phenomenal 23 swings-and-misses, and he didn’t walk anyone while throwing 72-of-99 pitches for strikes. He’ll try and keep this up Friday when he faces the Diamondbacks.

Luzardo struck out seven, but he surrendered homers to Brandon Nimmo and Andrew McCutchen that plated a total of five runs. Luzardo was exceptional at keeping the ball in the yard in the first half of last year, allowing a total of seven homers in 104 1/3 innings prior to the break. In the second half, he didn’t have quite as much luck there, giving up nine in 79 1/3 innings. He’ll make his next start against the Rockies in Coors, though that’s not always such a bad thing this early in the year.

Luzardo also struck out six and walked two while registering a 22.5 percent whiff rate. His sweeper did most of the damage in terms of swing-and-miss, and it’s worth noting that his fastball did get hit hard in this one, with four hard-hit balls allowed and an average exit velocity of 92 mph. It was still a strong outing overall for Luzardo, who heads into 2026 looking to build on what was a career season in 2025.

That had been a foregone conclusion for a while now, but is now official. The bigger question will be whether he or Taijuan Walker gets bumped once Zack Wheeler (shoulder) is ready to return. Cristopher Sanchez will work on Opening Day for the Phillies and will be followed by Aaron Nola. Jesus Luzardo, Walker and Painter in that order.