Jesus Luzardo Stellar 2025 Campaign Cements Him As Playoff Starter For Phillies
Sep 11, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jesœs Luzardo (44) reacts after pitching a strike out to end the New York Mets eighth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
The 2025 MLB Playoffs are just around the corner, and this year, the Philadelphia Phillies will have the luxury of once again skipping the Wild Card round and will move right onto the NLDS.
They’re likely going to end up as the No. 2 seed and will play the winner of the No. 3 vs No.6 matchup between the three-seed Los Angeles Dodgers and whoever earns the six seed between the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
While the Phillies won’t know who they’ll face until the end of next week, they’ll need to make decisions on who they will carry on the postseason roster and who will be the starting pitchers for the NLDS. With the series only being five games, and the National League getting extra days of rest, the Phillies will only need three starters for the entire series.
Expected Cy Young finalist Cristopher Sanchez is being lined up to be the Phillies’ game one starter, and Ranger Suarez will likely start game two. The real question is who will start game three, and before this month, the answer to that question was up in the air.
Zack Wheeler‘s blood clot injury threw a wrench in the Phillies’ dominant starting rotation, forcing them to go to their next option for a playoff starter. While they had a multitude of options to choose from, their decision was almost made for them.
Back in December of last year, Dave Domvroski made a move, acquiring Jesus Luzardo from the Miami Marlins in exchange for prospects Starlyn Caba and Emaarion Boyd. Luzardo was seen as someone who would fill out the Phillies’ rotation as the fifth starter, making it the best group in all of baseball.
Well, right away, it seemed as though they got more than just a fifth starter. Luzardo had a fantastic start to 2025, as in his first 11 starts with the Phillies, he posted a 2.15 ERA and recorded 77 strikeouts over 67 innings pitched. He was getting All-Star and Cy Young buzz as the fourth-best starting pitcher on his team.
However, things can go from great to terrible in the blink of an eye, and that’s exactly what happened to Luzardo. It began when he faced off against the Milwaukee Brewers at the end of May, where he allowed a season high 12 earned runs, skyrocketing his ERA up a point and a half.
Things kept getting worse for the left-hander as his struggles continued through June and July. From May 31st-July 23rd, Luzardo made 10 starts and posted an 8.04 ERA over 47 innings.
Luzardo had done a complete 180 on his season, and it seemed like it was getting to the point that he needed to be moved to the bullpen. And right when they were on the cusp of possibly making that move, the aforementioned Wheeler injury forced them to keep Luzardo in the rotation. Thankfully for the Phillies, Luzardo has changed his tune and has stepped up big time in Wheeler’s absence.
Since July 29th, Luzardo has posted a 2.84 ERA, striking out 80 over 69,2 innings pitched. He’s also recorded three games of 10 strikeouts or more in that time, a feat that he accomplished seven times this year. He came into 2025 with seven 10+ strikeout games, and in 2025 alone, he doubled that number.
Game after game, Luzardo continued to show up down the stretch. In his last start of the regular season, he put on another masterclass, striking out 10 over seven one-run innings, helping the Phillies secure a first-round bye in the playoffs. In that game, he passed his career high in strikeouts and innings pitched in a season, with 216 strikeouts and 183.2 innings pitched.
Has Luzardo been the best pitcher in the National League in 2025? No. Has he had some very bad starts, to the point that he looks like a batting practice pitcher? Yes. But at the same time, if you take out two starts in the middle of the season, where some assumed he was tipping his pitches, he has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season.
Luzardo will be asked to be a huge part of this Phillies’ team next month when they enter the postseason, but he’s given you every sign that he’s more than ready to fill that hole. He’s getting hot at the right time, and the Phillies will need to take advantage of that because in the playoffs, pitching wins championships.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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