MIAMI -- Jesús Luzardo walked off the mound and back to the first-base dugout at loanDepot park on Tuesday night following his first start in Miami in 378 days.
It’s a different dugout than the one he’d grown accustomed to over the past few years as a Marlin. A starter for Miami from 2021-24, Luzardo was traded to Philadelphia in December, months after making his last start for the Fish on June 16 (he was placed on the injured list with a lumbar stress reaction shortly after and spent the rest of the season recovering).
The South Florida native was drafted by the Nationals in 2016, then spent nearly three seasons with the A’s before they shipped him to Miami. But Luzardo, who compiled a 22-28 record during his time in Miami, has not had a season quite like his first with Philadelphia is shaping up to be.
Luzardo carried a 6-2 record (14 starts) into Tuesday’s battle, amassing a 4.23 ERA alongside 93 strikeouts.
Tuesday, Luzardo nearly recorded his ninth quality start of the season in the Phillies' 8-3 loss, but he was pulled after allowing two walks to open the sixth inning. The Phillies had a 3-2 lead when Luzardo left the game, but by the end of the inning, they trailed 5-3. By the end of the game, they were at a five-run deficit.
Luzardo finished the game with four earned runs on six hits and four strikeouts in five innings pitched.
“Just got to find the zone more,” Luzardo said postgame. “[I felt like] the slider [wasn’t strong]. It’s really my go-to, kind of my bread-and-butter. Just losing feel of it, which is frustrating. … Got to find a way to command that better.”
It was the second time he faced Miami since being traded. Luzardo went seven innings against the Marlins on April 20, striking out seven and allowing one earned run at Citizens Bank Park.
Despite being tabbed with a loss Tuesday, the return visit to Miami was a positive one for him.
“It’s always nice getting home, sleeping in my own bed, seeing a lot of family, friends,” Luzardo said. “I had breakfast with [some Marlins players] yesterday, and said ‘hi’ to a lot of them. … Tomorrow, I’ll make sure I get over there and say what’s up to a lot of them. I still have a lot of close friends over there.”
Luzardo wouldn’t attribute that familiarity to the Marlins’ success against him Tuesday.
“Yeah and no,” Luzardo said regarding that familiarity. “There’s some new guys in that lineup that didn’t necessarily know me great. But I feel like you go out there and make the right pitches and execute, you’ll be all right.”
Most of Luzardo’s opponents haven’t been able to find success against him this season.
Luzardo has four double-digit strikeout games this season (including three of his past six starts). He became the first Phillie since Steve Carlton in 1972 to have four double-digit strikeout games in his first 14 starts. Entering Tuesday's match, he carried a 2.10 ERA (17 earned runs in 73 innings) over 12 of his 14 starts on the season (he gave up 20 runs across the other two).
Luzardo ranked fifth in FanGraphs’ WAR calculation among National League pitchers entering Tuesday, while his 2.65 FIP was third. He also began 2025 with a career-best five-game winning streak.
“First half of the season, I feel like I did a really good job of getting in the zone and being on the attack,” he said. “... I feel like just getting ahead, throwing a lot of strikes, let my stuff play in the zone.”
Luzardo credits catcher JT Realmuto with helping him get off to the best start of his career.
“He does a good job studying the hitters,” Luzardo said. “He's been around a long time, so he knows a lot. And [he] reads swings, reads takes, reads how guys get in the box and how they react to certain pitches. So he just exudes a lot of confidence back there. And whatever he calls, we have confidence on pitches behind him."