The Philadelphia Phillies were reeling earlier in the week after the crushing news about ace Zack Wheeler. The starting rotation needed a boost of confidence after losing one of the best arms in the sport, and left-hander Jesús Luzardo delivered that in spades last Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners. It's the version of Luzardo that the Phillies will certainly need over the next couple of months.
After excellent outings from Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez earlier in the series, Luzardo followed that up with one of his best outings of the season. He went out to secure a three-game sweep of the playoff hopeful Mariners and went six innings while allowing just three hits, one run and striking out a season-high 12 batters. He also threw 89 pitches, 65 of which were strikes.
This is exactly the version of Luzardo that Phillies fans were hoping would return. After the win, he's 12-4, with a 4.10 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 170 strikeouts in 145 innings pitched.
Red October could really use this dominant version of Jesús Luzardo to bolster Phillies' rotation
Luzardo flat out dominated a feared Mariners' lineup that included the current MLB home run leader, switch hitting catcher Cal Raleigh. Raleigh went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts on the day. Much has been admired about Luzardo and the trust he has in his sweeper, and that paid massive dividends for him once again. It's one of the best pitches in the sport, and he leaned on it heavily to carve his way through the Mariners' batting order.
Whew 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/En80MRG2Hx
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 20, 2025
According to Statcast, of the 89 pitches he tossed, 38 were sweepers (43 percent). He averaged around 86 mph and got 11 of his 21 total swings and misses just from the sweeper alone. It was dancing all over the place and caused batters to swing at it 54 percent of the time outside the strike zone, which registered his pitch at an impressive 55 percent whiff rate. It's the same sweeper that made him such an elite starter 10 starts into his Phillies tenure, when he had a 1.95 ERA through May 20.
Luzardo has now settled down after a rocky stretch, with a 2.32 ERA dating back to July 29. He faced adversity with back-to-back blowup outings and the pitch-tipping debacle in early June, but he has bounced right back into the star the Phillies got a glimpse of earlier in the season.
Luzardo gets the start in Tuesday's game against the rival New York Mets, a perfect stage for him to step up again as part of this new-look Phillies rotation.
With Wheeler done for the season, the rotation will have to continue injecting every bit of confidence that they can. They want to prove more than anyone that they can pick up their ace while remaining one of the best pitching staffs in the majors. They'll be without Wheeler for the postseason, but this version of Luzardo could be a whole other experience during Red October.