The Phillies have acquired left-handed starter Jesus Luzardo from the Miami Marlins, per multiple reports:

The Phillies will be sending #4 prospect Starlyn Caba and their 23rd-ranked prospect Emaarion Boyd to Miami. In addition to Luzardo, the Phillies have also acquired minor-league catcher Paul McIntosh.

Dave Dombrowski is doubling down on pitching this offseason. He’s been in the market for a handful of guys, including Garrett Crochet and Brady Singer, and he finally lands his guy.

Luzardo, who’s just 27 years old, was hurt in 2024, throwing just 12 starts. 2022 and 2023 were Luzardo’s breakout years. He tallied a 3.32 ERA in ’22 with 120 strikeouts in 100 innings, and logged 208 Ks in 178.2 innings in 2023.

He’s under team control through the 2026 season.


In an offseason that’s been a bit of a question mark, Dombrowski continues to stress the importance of pitching. The Phillies, who already had one of the best rotations in the league last season, just solidified themselves with the best rotation in baseball heading into 2025.

  • Zack Wheeler
  • Aaron Nola
  • Cristopher Sanchez
  • Jesus Luzardo
  • Ranger Suarez
  • Andrew Painter (when he’s ready)

This is truly an awesome trade for the Phillies. If Luzardo is any bit of his 2022-2023 self, this trade will be highway robbery in no time. Caba was still almost 3 years away from the pros.

If the Phillies aren’t going to go big in the hitting market, they need to load up on pitching, and that’s exactly what they’re doing. Having the decision of Suarez or Luzardo to be your 4th starter is an unbelievable problem to have.

Luzardo thrives off of his 4-pitch mix. A 4-seam fastball, his slider, which he throws 29% of the time, a changeup, and a sinker.

Kinkead: remember when rolling out the 5th starter was a Doc Rivers-inspired “schedule loss”? not anymore