Is Jesus Luzardo the Phillies’ Game One Starter?

Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler have been two of baseball’s most reliable postseason pitchers over the past three seasons. Both have delivered some of the Phillies’ most important playoff starts, from Wheeler’s seven shutout innings in the Phils’ game-one victory against the Padres in 2022 to Sanchez’s two elite starts against the powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025.

Despite these highly impressive resumes, Phillies’ southpaw Jesus Luzardo is making a compelling argument to be a top-of-the-rotation starter when October baseball rolls around, with some even making the argument that he should get the nod in game one, whether that be of a Wild Card or Divisional series.

When Luzardo was dealt to the Phillies ahead of the 2025 season, he came with just 14.2 innings of postseason experience. He had three brief playoff stints during his time with the Athletics and Marlins. Unfortunately, his success was just about as limited as his opportunities.

With the Phillies, however, things changed. In the NLDS, Luzardo held the Dodgers to just two runs on three hits over six dazzling innings of work. Just three days later, Luzardo came out of the bullpen in the Phillies’ win-or-go-home game, putting together another impressive multi-inning outing. As many remember, the Phillies went on to lose that game in brutal fashion after the Dodgers walked it off in the eleventh inning, but Luzardo was one of only a few bright spots during a disappointing Phillies playoff run in 2025.

This season, Luzardo’s story has ascended to a whole new chapter. He most recently pummeled the Mariners’ offense, throwing seven innings of one-hit baseball and striking out nine. Luckily, the Phillies’ offense capitalized on Luzardo’s excellent outing, posting six runs in the first two innings and going on to secure the victory in the series finale.

But don’t be fooled—this kind of dominance is not new for Luzardo. Quietly, he has become one of baseball’s best starting pitchers. He made his first all-star appearance in 2026 after posting a 3.51 ERA in the first half. Since the all-star break, the lefty has been even better, with a 2.22 ERA over eight starts.

On multiple occasions, interim Phillies manager Don Mattingly has described Luzardo as being “on the attack” when he’s pitching. And with his ability to generate so many swings and misses (he actually eclipsed the 200 strikeout mark for the season in his most recent start), that’s the perfect way to put it.

---

Interestingly, it’s actually Luzardo’s 3.09 ERA that has kept his incredible 2026 season somewhat under the radar, as it’s ranked 13th-best among qualified pitchers. However, once other metrics are brought into the picture, Luzardo arguably becomes a top-five pitcher in baseball.

• Strikeouts: 203 (fourth in MLB)
• Innings Pitched: 163.0 (third in MLB)
• Expected Batting Average: .206 (third in MLB)
• Expected Slugging Percentage: .308 (third in MLB)
• Expected ERA: 2.87 (third in MLB)
• Hard Hit Rate: 32.2% (fourth in MLB)
• Whiff Rate: 31.7% (fourth in MLB)
• Out of Zone Swings and Misses: 257 (second in MLB)
• Off-Speed Average Horizontal Break: 15.4 in. (fourth in MLB)

Evidently, 2026 has been nothing short of magnificent for Luzardo. Much of his success can be attributed to his sweeper, which has racked up over 50% of his strikeouts. Luzardo has also become more comfortable mixing in his sinker alongside his high-velocity four-seamer, keeping both lefties and righties off-balanced.

“From start to finish, he was in control all day,” interim manager Don Mattingly said in reference to Luzardo’s start. “Today, he just stayed smooth and kept making pitches. The growth has been great.”

What’s even more impressive about Luzardo’s 2026 campaign is that his season got off to an unexpectedly rocky start. After his first eight outings, he had a 5.77 ERA. His solid 2025 stat line was tarnished by a few blow-up outings, and at the beginning of 2026, it seemed like that pattern was bound to continue. Recently, though, even when Luzardo is without his best stuff, he has been able to limit the opposition’s damage.

“[I’m] just giving us a chance to win,” Luzardo said after the Phillies’ win over Seattle. “Early in the year, I felt like I didn’t do my job of that. As of late, just being able to keep us in the fight, whether it’s giving up runs early and holding on, or holding on to the lead, just keeping us in the fight.”

Of course, with five weeks of the season remaining, there’s a lot that’s still up in the air. The Phillies have two tough series against the Braves and a brutal final six games against the Rays and Brewers. And as Luzardo has hit his peak, Zack Wheeler is in the midst of one of his worst stretches as a Phillie.

Nevertheless, with how well Luzardo has thrown recently, there at least has to be a conversation about increasing his role come October. And to no fault of Wheeler’s, the Phillies’ recent trips to the postseason have been nothing short of a massive disappointment, so maybe a switch-up will provide the spark that finally powers the Phillies through a deep, storied October run.

Get new articles emailed right to your inbox.