Jesús

Luzardo

This was yet another frustrating outing for Luzardo. His final line was solid, but he pitched with a comfortable lead from the third inning on and struggled with his efficiency. This was on display in the sixth inning. He had a six run lead, forced a groundout from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to start the inning, and was at just 79 pitches. Then, he proceeded to walk both Ernie Clement and Kazuma Okamoto before giving up a run-scoring single and was pulled before completing the frame. He remains too reliant on his sweeper, which forced 10 of his 13 total swings-and-misses, when opposing lineups are stacked with right-handed batters. Again, this was a fine start, just one that he made more difficult than it should have been. He’s scheduled to face the Marlins at home next time out.

The White Sox got after Luzardo in the second inning after a scoreless first. After retiring the first two batters he faced in the frame, Luzardo would hit Sam Antonacci with a pitch, with Luisangel Acuña doubling home Antonacci on the following at-bat. Tristan Peters would then single to bring home Acuña, giving the White Sox an early 2-0 lead. Luzardo would be the beneficiary of a five-run second inning by the Phillies, which came in handy when he allowed a solo homer to Randal Grichuk to begin the third inning, and he would give up two more runs via solo homers before being pulled in the sixth inning. It goes without saying that Luzardo was not his normal self. He struck out a season-low two batters while giving up the second-most runs in any start this season. Luzardo, who was hit with a no-decision in this one, draws another tough matchup in his next start, which is scheduled for Wednesday on the road in Toronto.

Luzardo left down 2-1, but the Phillies came back to win 4-3 tonight. Luzardo has a 1.54 ERA over his last four starts, though he’s picked up just one win in the process. He’s looking at facing the White Sox in a home start next week. It seems like a fairly kind assignment for a left-hander with Munetaka Murakami on the IL.

San Diego appeared to have Luzardo on the ropes on several occasions, but he managed to wriggle out of multiple jams with traffic on the basepaths to record his third consecutive quality start since May 14. The 28-year-old southpaw recorded six punchouts and only issued a pair of walks. His signature moment in this one came in the opening frame when he escaped a bases-loaded quagmire by striking out Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill before getting former teammate Nick Castellanos to ground out. He’s in line for a tough assignment to close out a two-start week with a road matchup against the red-hot Dodgers on Sunday.

The runs came in the fourth after the Reds loaded the bases with no outs and then settled for a pair of sac flies. As it turned out, that was enough to drop Luzardo to 3-4 on the season. It’s the sixth time in 10 starts that Luzardo has allowed two runs or fewer. Unfortunately, he’s given up 24 earned runs in the other four. He’ll likely face the Padres on Monday.

Luzardo punched out four opposing hitters in the contest. Twice the Red Sox put a runner at third base against him with less than two outs — and both times Luzardo made the big hntil the eighth inning though, forcing Luzardo to have to settle for a no-decision despite his brilliant work. He’ll attempt to keep the good times rolling as he carries a 5.07 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and a 61/13 K/BB ratio (49 2/3 innings) into Tuesday’s battle against the Reds.

Luzardo allowed one run through three before failing to retire any of the seven batters he faced in the fourth. He was finally pulled with two on after his second walk of the frame, and Jonathan Bowlan came in and stranded both baserunners afterwards. It’s the fourth time this season that Luzardo has allowed at least five runs. He’s given up four runs combined in his other four starts. He also had a stretch like this in the middle of last year, alternating between excellent and horrendous with little in between. His strikeout and walk rates are both quite strong, so there shouldn’t be any thoughts of giving up on him, even with his ERA currently sitting at 5.98. He’ll face the Red Sox next week.

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.