Starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo of the Philadelphia Phillies has had a scorching start to his 2025 Major League Baseball season with his new team. According to Paul Casella of MLB.com, Luzardo has put himself in the record books with his incredible performance. He has joined Grover Alexander and, more significantly, Ranger Suárez from the previous season as the only three Phillies in the franchise’s history to achieve the feat by going undefeated with a sub-2.00 ERA in his first ten starts of the season.
The Phillies definitely couldn’t ask for more from Luzardo, who was acquired in a deal with the Miami Marlins this past winter to boost the back half of the rotation. The 27-year-old lefty not only has succeeded beyond expectations, but he has even showed ace-like potential in the process.
Jesús Luzardo is right where Ranger Suárez was last year before things fell apart
However, it’s important to remember that Suárez shown this kind of domination in his first ten starts in 2024. We are all aware of how that ended, as he finished the season with a dismal 3-8 record, a 5.10 ERA, and 1.52 WHIP. In his next 17 starts, he allowed an incredible 48 earned runs in just 84 2/3 innings.
So the Phillies better hope that Luzardo doesn’t meet the same fate as his fellow lefty this time around. Luzardo’s health has been one of his advantages this season after battling back and elbow issues the previous year. He has been fantastic in his 11 starts thus far, going 5-0 with a clean 2.15 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. In 67 innings pitched, he has struck out 77 batters and allowed only three home runs and 19 walks.
Given that Suárez suffered from back problems in the second half of 2024, which undoubtedly affected his performance in the closing stages, Luzardo’s dominance is likely to be more long-lasting if he can maintain a reasonable level of health this season and finally put an end to his injury problems from the previous campaign.
Given that Suárez, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Cristopher Sánchez make up what is likely the finest starting five in baseball, this is good news for the Phillies’ rotation. As of Monday’s games, the Philadelphia starters are actually leading the league in wins (22) and strikeouts (338), second in innings thrown (305), and fourth in ERA (3.22).
The Phillies might be even more unstoppable if Nola can turn things around after his injury, especially because they have already achieved that with a struggling player to begin 2025.
However, Luzardo’s newfound leadership for Philadelphia and his ability to win over Phillies fans might put them in the middle of an even better season than the one they had the year before.
