Phillies Offense Wakes Up, Jesus Luzardo Locks In vs White Sox
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo throws against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
The Phillies came into tonight’s game looking for a little magic on the south side of Chicago as they take on the scrappy White Sox in the pivotal game of the series. Jesus Luzardo took the mound against Jonathan Cannon, looking to turn things around this season.
Luzardo did just that tonight; he pitched a masterful game, going 7 strong innings, only walking one and surrendering 2 hits. What’s noteworthy in the game is that he did all of this in only 90 pitches. In previous starts, he had 90 pitches in the 4th inning, so this was a welcome return and a vintage performance for Jesus.
Not to mention that the Phillies’ offense showed up and manufactured runs, and Kyle Schwarber hit another long home run, to end July strong.
The Phillies’ closing situation did take another hit with Daniel Robert giving up 3 runs, 2 of them on a Lenyn Sosa home run. This was a quality win for the Philies, including some incredible defense and a home run from Brandon Marsh. The game wasn’t as close as the 6-3 score suggests.
Luzaro has really had 2 very different seasons in one. In his first five starts, he fit in perfectly with Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sanchez, giving Phillies fans visions of a 1-2-3 punch, and once Ranger Suarez found his footing, a strong rotation that could contend deeper into October.
In his first eleven starts, he was masterful; he had a 5-0 record with a 2.15 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, and most importantly, he was not walking batters, only giving up 2.55 walks per game and going deeper into games with just over 6 innings per start on average.
The last ten coming into this game had been another story altogether. He is 3-5, with an incredibly high 8.04 ERA, a 1.79 WHIP, on average he has gone 4.7 innings, and the true tale is the walks — he was averaging 4.6 walks per game.
When we look at his stats, it’s not a question of him not having his stuff; in the last 10 games, he has improved in strikeouts per 9 innings. In the first 11 games, he was at 10.34, and in the last 10 coming into tonight, he is striking out 11.3 per 9.
The true issue for Luzardo has been the walks and getting himself into predictable counts. He defaults to going to his sinker, which has always been his comfort pitch, but over the last 10 games, opponents are hitting .600 on the sinker and .333 on his 4-seam fastball. His sweeper and slider are not getting hit as hard, and are truly his kill pitches, but the main issue is that he is having trouble controlling these pitches and which is making him one-dimensional, and the fact that he’s giving up so many long balls and hard contact over the last 10 games.
In tonight’s game, Luzardo looked as if he turned back the clock to May, because he was on fire all game. He ran into a little trouble in the second inning, but it was minimal. In the previous 10 starts, that was the exact situation that would have unraveled his game, but credit to J.T. Realmuto for keeping him going back to the fastball and sinker. As he felt more comfortable that he was able to control those pitches, it made his breaking balls that much more effective. White Sox hitters were off balance all game and not making solid contact frequently. There were 10 balls hit over 95 mph, but he spread those out over 7 innings.
The main difference in tonight’s Luzardo is that he was not hunting for the strikeout. He was keeping hitters off balance, letting his defense make plays. He also limited the walks to one, which is a huge sign of progress for the lefty. This was a very promising start for Jesus Luzardo, and we can hope it is the start of a redemption arc for Luzardo.
Another important part of the puzzle was that the Phillies’ offense showed up and manufactured runs early on as well as brought the thump, the first two coming via sacrifice flies, which we haven’t seen too much in July from the Phils. They kept their foot on the throttle all game and put 6 on the White Sox. Granted, they are a team that the Phils should be beating, but this month, nothing can be taken for granted.
The Phillies look to take the series tomorrow in the day game rubber match, with Taijuan Walker taking on Adrian Houser for the White Sox.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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