Phillies, Jesus Luzardo Agree to 5-Year, $135 Million Contract Extension
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
Jesus Luzardo is staying in Philadelphia.
The Phillies have agreed to a contract extension with the left-handed starting pitcher, keeping him in Philadelphia for the foreseeable future. It’s a 5-year, $135 million deal for Luzardo that puts him in the top five highest AAV (Average Annual Value) in baseball for left-handed pitchers.
Luzardo was acquired by the Phillies back in December of 2024 to help bolster the already stellar Phillies 2025 rotation. The Phillies paid a high price for Luzardo, trading at the time their No. 4 and No. 23 prospects, Starlyn Caba and Emaarion Boyd, for two years of control of Luzardo.
In his first year with the Phillies, Luzardo had a fantastic season, posting a 3.92 ERA and a 1.220 WHIP, along with posting career highs in strikeouts and innings pitched with 216 and 183.2, respectively. Through the first two months of the season, Luzardo was red hot, posting a 2.15 ERA and 77 strikeouts in his first 11 starts, putting him well into the Cy Young conversation early on in the year.
That talk eventually died as he struggled throughout June and July, falling to a 4.58 ERA at one point before regaining his success from the start of the season and finishing with a sub-4.00 ERA and tied for fourth in the majors in strikeouts.
The Phillies have had interest in re-signing Luzardo from the second they traded for him last offseason, and after the stellar 2025 season, they had even more reason not to let him hit free agency next winter. They took a huge swing trying to resign him as they let one of their other left-handed starters walk in free agency this past winter in Ranger Suarez, as he signed a 5-year, $130 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. The gamble worked, and now the Phillies keep the younger left-hander in Philadelphia for just $5 million more than Suarez.
Included in Luzardo’s deal is a $32.5 million team option and a $2 million escalator for every season he finishes top five in Cy Young voting, which maxes out at $42.5 million. Luzardo was set to make $11 million this upcoming season, which he still will, essentially making this new deal a 6-year, $146 million contract extension.
The Phillies are in an interesting spot this upcoming season and in the future as veterans Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler are shifting into the back ends of their careers, while Cristopher Sanzchez is coming off a near Cy Young season. They also have fellow veteran Taijuan Walker, in the last year of his 4-year, $80 million deal, and top prospect Andrew Painter, expected to enter the rotation this season. Luzardo remains a stagnant figure in arguably the best rotation in baseball for not just this season, but possibly many more to come.
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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