Superstitions? No wonder Luzardo is locked in

This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Jesús Luzardo began his pre-start routine 2 hours and 20 minutes before Friday’s 6:45 p.m. first pitch at Citizens Bank Park.

He walked onto the field at 6:16 p.m.

He made his first throw at 6:20 p.m.

These times weren’t random.

“I’m extremely superstitious,” Luzardo said Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

For example, Luzardo, who wears No. 44, loves fours and eights.

“I’m a numbers guy,” he said. “Ever since I was younger, fours and eights have been good luck. Eight has always been a lucky number for me. In my first big league camp [with the A’s], they gave me 44. They never asked me. They just gave it to me. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll never leave it.’

“I feel like I see 44 a lot everywhere. It’s my number. I like it.”

So, on the days Luzardo pitches, the time he begins his pre-start routine, the time he walks onto the field and the time he makes his first throw must add up to a four or eight.

The 2-2-0 in his pre-start routine adds up to four.

The 6-1-6 when he walked onto the field on Friday added up to 13. But, one plus three equals four.

“I find a way to make it work for me,” Luzardo said.

The 6-2-0 when he made his first throw added up to eight.

“It’s down to the minute,” Luzardo said. “Two hours, 20 minutes every single time, so I’m prepped by the time I walk out. The walking out and the first throw, it might vary a minute or two, up or down, but it’s almost always the same. But in the past, if I haven’t communicated well, If I’m looking up and it’s 6:20 and it’s an eight and we’ve got 10 seconds left, it’s like, ‘I’ve got to get this throw off before it hits 6:21.’ But I make it known -- I will walk out at this time and the first throw will be at this time.”

The superstitions must be working. Luzardo is 3-0 with a 1.94 ERA in his first seven starts for the Phillies. It is the lowest ERA by a Phillies pitcher through his first seven starts with the organization (without a relief appearance in between) since Roy Oswalt’s 1.89 ERA in 2010.

But numbers aren’t Luzardo’s only superstitions.

His glasses are the most recognizable ones. Luzardo wore rec specs as a kid because he had trouble seeing the signs from the catcher. He continued to wear them as he ascended to pro ball, even though his eyesight is nearly perfect and he doesn’t wear glasses or contacts otherwise.

Luzardo ditched the frames early in 2021 and he pitched poorly. He brought them back in the second half of the ‘21 season. He hasn’t stopped wearing them since.

“They used to be prescription,” Luzardo said. “Then one day I left them at home in `22. We were in Atlanta. I said, ‘I have to go get glasses. I can’t pitch without glasses.’ So, I went to an Oakley store in Atlanta and bought a regular pair. I pitched well and ever since I was like, ‘I can’t switch them.’”

In the past, Luzardo used the same black glove on game days. He is using two gloves this year: one black, one cream.

Why two?

“Because this year I said no superstitions,” he said.

Luzardo saw the humor in his words. He smiled.

“I’m breaking it down by bits and pieces,” he said. “I can’t just go eliminate them all at one time.”

Luzardo will jump over the foul-line the same way. He will leave the dugout the same way.

“Like, if I pitch the first inning and didn’t give up a run, I try to walk out of the dugout the same way, using the same steps,” he said. “The last two steps, I step over.”

Luzardo said he orders the same coffee on game days: cold brew with almond milk.

“I go to Starbucks,” he said. “It’s always Starbucks. I’m a very big local coffee shop guy, but on start days I have to get Starbucks.”

Before Spring Training, Luzardo decided to grow out his hair. He said he won’t get it cut now, meaning if everything goes the way the Phillies hope it goes, Luzardo will have a nice flow going by late October.

“Hopefully it’s down to here,” Luzardo said, gesturing to his shoulders.

So, other than the glasses, the glove, the hair, the pre-start routine, the first step onto the field, the first throw on the field, jumping over the line the same way, leaving the dugout the same way and the coffee order, Luzardo doesn’t really have anything he specifically needs to do on game day.

“I say I’m not superstitious, but I’m pretty superstitious,” he said, smiling again.

It’s interesting because once Luzardo steps onto the mound, it all goes away.

There is a game plan, of course. But it’s not like Luzardo can only throw a certain pitch in a certain count. He must constantly adjust based on the situation in front of him. He must improvise if a certain pitch isn’t working.

“My dad always tells me that I jam too many things into my schedule,” Luzardo said. “I’m very down to the minute. In the offseason, I feel like I have everything scheduled out pretty well. So I feel like I try to do that here [at the ballpark] as much as possible. Because once you’re in the game, you can’t control it. I’m a control freak. My family knows it.”