Through his first 11 starts as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, Jesús Luzardo appeared to be the steal of the offseason, as the 27-year-old lefty was in the midst of a potential Cy Young season with a 2.15 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 77 strikeouts in 67 innings pitched, and was coming off back-to-back outings with double-digit strikeouts.
However, that all came crashing down in start No. 12, as he allowed a career-high 12 runs, the most by a Phillies starting pitcher since 1947, along with 12 hits, three walks and four strikeouts in just 3 1/3 innings in the 17-7 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. Suddenly that ERA, which entered as the eighth-best in MLB and sat under 3.00 from his second start on, ballooned all the way up to 3.58, while his WHIP jumped to 1.34.
What did Rob Thomson have to say about the Phillies leaving Jesús Luzardo in?
It was evident from the beginning that Saturday wouldn't be Luzardo's day, as a first inning three-run home run from Rhys Hoskins foreshadowed what would soon follow. In the fourth, the Brewers tacked on eight more runs, with each of the first six batters all reaching base and Hoskins adding insult to injury with his second three-run home run of the game.
DOUBLE DINGER DAY FOR @rhyshoskins 💣💣 https://t.co/W7befXwy6h pic.twitter.com/Ukafmdi5VR
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 31, 2025
By the time Luzardo was pulled, his pitch count was up to 76, the margin had grown to 11, and his chances of any hardware were shot. So why didn't Phillies manager Rob Thomson pull his embattled starter before things got out of hand?
"Statistics matter," Thomson said after the game via Phillies Nation's Destiny Lugardo. "You want your guys to have great years, but at some point too, you've got to battle through things and you've got to do it for your teammates. You've got to strike that balance."
The bullpen had been taxed throughout the week, using three relievers the night prior and seven arms total in the day-night doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, and with the game out of hand, the team surely wanted to stay away from their high-leverage arms.
But the Phillies have already pushed Luzardo to a new limit throughout the early portion of the season. Entering Saturday, he was averaging over six innings a start and already surpassed last season's innings total (66 2/3). Across his last five outings, he's thrown 510 pitches (an average of 102 pitches per contest) and just added an extra 76 on Saturday.
Luzardo has had a history with injuries too, suffering a season-ending lumbar stress fracture in June 2024 and a left forearm strain that sidelined him for just over two months in 2022, so the Phillies know they must be careful about preserving his arm for October.
The Phillies may very well still produce a Cy Young winner between Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez, but no matter how well Luzardo does the rest of the season, his numbers will always be tainted by this one start.