Philadelphia Phillies New Starting Pitcher Faces High Expectations Ahead

Some see the new starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies as having high expectations attached to his first season with the franchise.

Feb 20, 2025; Clearwater, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jesus Luzardo (44) participates in media day at BayCare Ballpark. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

With the start of the regular season getting closer for the Philadelphia Phillies, the team is getting excited to get back on the field. 

This winter, the Phillies did a solid job of improving their team without making any major shakeups to their core. 

Due to the early exit from the postseason last year, seeing something wild happening this past winter wouldn’t have been all that surprising. However, Philadelphia elected to keep their core intact and run it back for the most part. 

However, with a couple of clear needs heading into the winter, the Phillies did do a nice job of addressing them. 

One of the needs was to find a new fifth starter in the rotation. Due to the struggles of Taijuan Walker last year, Philadelphia knew that they would have to find a new starter for the rotation. However, the upgrade that they made was a significant one and for someone who has a much higher ceiling than being a fifth starter. 

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report recently wrote about expectations being high for Phillies pitcher Jesus Luzardo coming into the season.  

Philadelphia was able to acquire the talented left-hander from the Miami Marlins this winter and while 2024 wasn’t a great season coming off an injury, the southpaw has a high upside. 

In 2023, he totaled a 10-10 record, a 3,58 ERA and struck out 208 batters. With the ability to strike out batters at such a high rate, the sky is the limit for Luzardo. However, he will have to bounce back from the down year in 2024. 

With a couple of years left on his deal, Luzardo not only helps the Phillies this season, but he should also be able to help them long-term as well. 

Since Ranger Suarez is hitting free agency next winter, the 27-year-old figures to be a potential replacement for him, considering top prospect Andrew Painter should be established in the Majors next season. 

So far this spring, the early results have been good for Luzardo in Philadelphia. He was able to pitch two perfect innings with two strikeouts in his spring debut. 

With such a high upside as the fifth starter on the team, the addition of the left-hander has helped establish the starting rotation as one of the best in the league. 

After leaving the Marlins, Luzardo should get a lot more run support to help him as well, which wasn’t a luxury he had in Miami. 

The sky is the limit for the southpaw, and he is already off to a solid start for the Phillies. 

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