The biggest strength of the Philadelphia Phillies is undoubtedly their starting rotation. The group, led by Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez, oozes consistency. Jesús Luzardo was also a consistent stud for the club through the first two months, until he started tipping his pitches.
Luzardo hoped to fix that major issue, but it unfortunately appears that teams will continue to expose him for his inability to pitch out of the stretch, which is quite alarming for the World Series-hungry Phillies.
Jesús Luzardo must figure out how to hide his pitches from the stretch before the playoffs
The first sign of concern for Luzardo came in one of the worst starts you'll ever see. On May 31 against the Milwaukee Brewers, Luzardo surrendered an unfathomable 12 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings in a blowout loss. He followed that up with eight earned in an even shorter 2 1/3 innings against Toronto, raising his ERA from 2.15 to 4.46 and making MLB history in the process.
Luzardo got shelled so hard that it raised concerns over his pitches possibly being tipped, which were proven to be correct. After tinkering with his glove placement, it was believed that Luzardo fixed his problem for good, but that wouldn't prove to be the case.
Luzardo had allowed 42 earned runs over 47 innings pitched in his previous 10 starts before a seven-inning gem against the Chicago White Sox in his most recent start on July 29. That was due in part to a shockingly sudden meltdown against the Boston Red Sox on July 23, which really magnified Luzardo's struggles to hide his pitches with runners on base.
Jesus Luzardo pitches vs the Red Sox tonight….
— Prehension Athletics (@tommym8) July 23, 2025
Luzardo has tipped his breaking ball from the stretch all season long….
There are a couple of guys in Red Sox uniforms that have feasted on this tell for the better part of a decade…
Jesus has tried setting his hands at his… pic.twitter.com/oEliQnnidC
That prediction by Prehension Athletics proved to be dead-on, as Luzardo's final line versus the Red Sox was six runs and a season-high five walks over five innings. What's most frustrating of all is Luzardo was rolling through the first four innings, holding Boston hitless. However, things quickly unraveled as soon as runners got on base and Luzardo had to pitch from the stretch.
With two runs already across on consecutive bases-loaded walks, Luzardo faced Romy Gonzalez with the bases loaded. Red Sox manager Alex Cora wisely picked up that Luzardo was going to his changeup, and the rest was history.
Gonzalez's grand slam proved to be crucial in the Phillies' 9-8 extra-innings loss. The Phillies hope that they have addressed their bullpen issues with their trade deadline acquisition of Jhoan Duran. Come October, one of Luzardo, Ranger Suárez, or Andrew Painter will join Duran as an addition to the bullpen. If Luzardo is converted to a reliever he'll have to be able to throw effectively from the stretch in high-tension situations.
This stuff just cannot continue to happen to Luzardo, who undeniably has ace-like stuff. Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham will have to continue to work with Luzardo in the Phillies' pitching lab, and he appears to have solved Luzardo's problem for the time being.
Luzardo worked around several jams against the White Sox and even went to the windup to strand the bases loaded in the first inning. If that's what it takes to make Luzardo feel more comfortable with traffic on the base paths, then he should stick with it before it's too late.