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Jesus Luzardo is Dominating When the Phillies Need Him Most
By Luke Arcaini
Published:
When the Phillies needed somebody to right the ship, Jesus Luzardo was there. I guess you could really say that about the entire season.
After a frustrating loss on Sunday night, the Phillies needed firepower on Monday. Whether it was the bats, or the pitching, they just needed something. They needed to bring life back into a fanbase that had their doubts after arguably the worst loss of the season.
When Jesus Luzardo was acquired ahead of the 2025 season from the Marlins, the concern was availability. Luzardo had never made more than 50 starts in back to back seasons with a team. Through the first two years of his Phillies career, with a few starts left on the horizon, he has made 59. Through a bulk of his starts, he has been lights out. And on Sunday, that didn’t change.
It was a classic pitchers duel at Citizens Bank Park on Monday afternoon, with a Labor Day crowd of 41,820 on hand to watch Luzardo battle it out with Grant Holmes. The Phillies came into today five games back of the Atlanta Braves, and really six games if you count the tiebreaker. Maybe the division isn’t in their front view anymore. Focusing on securing the top Wild Card spot over the Cubs may be the best plan for the last 18 games of the season.
But when the Phillies needed Luzardo most, he tossed the best outing of his professional career.
Monday afternoon was the 149th start of Luzardo’s major league career. He had never recorded an out in the 9th inning before today. Kyle Schwarber sent a titanic blast to the 2nd deck in the bottom of the 8th inning to give the Phillies a much-needed 1-0 lead. Luzardo walked out to the mound with 92 pitches through 8. Why did the Braves not pinch hit for Ha-Seong Kim, who is hitting .110 this season with a .318 OPS? I don’t know. But after getting Kim to flyout, followed by a walk to Ronald Acuna Jr, the villain of the weekend, Luzardo fanned Drake Baldwin on a nasty sinker up in the zone.
Ozzie Albies, a Phillies killer, flew out to Brandon Marsh to end the inning. Luzardo pounded his glove, watched the catch unfold from Brandon Marsh, and took his hat off. He looked up to the sky, pounded his chest and embraced J.T Realmuto in front of the pitchers mound.
For the first time in Luzardo’s career, he tossed a complete game. Oh, and it was a 2-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts.
“I had more in the tank,” Luzardo said to reporters in the clubhouse following Monday’s 1-0 win.
That describes Luzardo’s tenure. A pitcher that came to Philadelphia as a fragile, not fully-developed lefty, basically said he was ready to go out for a 10th inning if needed. Luzardo, who has been one of the best pitchers in baseball over the last three months, now has a 2.87 ERA in 178.2 innings with 221 strikeouts in 2026.
For the last few years, the Phillies have had the luxury of elite starting picthing, but also starting pitching health. That is rare across Major League Baseball.
Luzardo is 5th in all of baseball in strikeouts. He is 13th in ERA, and tied for 11th in the league in wins. He is 17th in WHIP at 1.08…and he may not pitch until Game 3 of a Phillies postseason series.
But that’s the question…how do you ignore this success? How do you ignore the pure dominance that Luzardo has showed this year? He has allowed more than 2 runs just one time since the middle of June. He has looked in control all season. And his chemistry with Realmuto behind the dish looks better than ever.
We’re arguing a good problem. The Phillies may be the only team in baseball that has this problem. Does another team have a guy with a 2.87 ERA across 175 innings that could potentially not pitch until Game 3 of a series?
The Phillies may not do it. If I had to guess, at this moment, it would still be Cristopher Sanchez in the opener, Zack Wheeler in game two, and Luzardo in game 3. But in a wild card series, maybe that’ll work for the Phillies.
If the series went the full length, the Phillies should feel confident. Because in a do-or-die game, right now, there may not be a pitcher in baseball that should be on the rubber over Jesus Luzardo.
Luke Arcaini has been writing about the Phillies for 6 seasons, and is now in his 2nd year covering for Phillies down at Citizens Bank Park for Crossing Broad. Follow him on Twitter @ArcainiLuke