Luzardo Paid for the Hardest Pitch He Threw in Uncharacteristic Outing

Jesus Luzardo made 32 starts for the Phillies last season and 20 of them were homerless. He was taken deep twice in a game only four times and the Phillies lost three of the four, just as they did Sunday when he left a sweeper in Brandon Nimmo's sweet spot low-and-in for a two-run shot and threw a fastball middle-in, right into Andrew McCutchen's barrel for a three-run bomb.

The Phillies did little offensively for the second straight day, but they were also mostly out of the game by the top of the sixth, trailing 6-0.

Luzardo had a breezy, 11-pitch first inning, picking up two groundballs and a called strike three on a sweeper Corey Seager wasn't expecting. He picked up two more K's in a 1-2-3 second inning, then was helped on a sliding play up the middle by second baseman Edmundo Sosa to start the third.

At that point, Luzardo was through 2⅓ innings on just 22 pitches. A softly-hit single and a strikeout later, Nimmo came to the plate and crushed the first pitch he got into the Phillies' bullpen. He saw a lot of Luzardo last season, eight plate appearances across three games. Luzardo has allowed only 13 home runs to left-handed batters in his entire career and two have been hit by Nimmo, who is 7-for-23 (.304) lifetime.

Brandon Nimmo has his first home run as a member of the Texas @Rangers 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ICpt75evo3
— MLB (@MLB) March 29, 2026

It was just a two-run shot, though, nothing a starting pitcher or lineup can't work around to win a game. The costlier blow came in the fourth inning, when Luzardo was way out of the zone with all four pitches he threw Seager for a walk, then allowed a single up the middle to Jake Burger.

He worked ahead 1-2 to McCutchen but just left a 98 mph fastball in the perfect spot to the former Phillie, who hit a tracer into the left-field seats to break the game open. It was the fastest pitch Luzardo threw on the day and the hardest-hit ball he allowed.

The Rangers become the sixth MLB team Andrew McCutchen has homered for! pic.twitter.com/hlul6zmpMY
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 29, 2026

McCutchen was unsigned until March 6. As he crossed the plate, a Phillies fan could be heard saying, "Cutch, are you kidding me?" McCutchen put his hands up in the air and yelled to the fan, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I told you," with the "I told you" likely applying to all the teams that thought he was finished.

It was an uncharacteristic outing for Luzardo, who was extended by the Phillies this month for $135 million through 2031. He was coming off a career year in which he went 15-7 with a 3.92 ERA and set personal bests with 183⅔ innings, 216 strikeouts and his lowest-ever home run rate. Even the 3.92 ERA was deceiving because it was nearly a full run lower (3.03) aside from back-to-back absolutely horrific starts around Memorial Day.

Luzardo will chalk this one up to a couple of bad pitches at bad times, similar to Aaron Nola on Saturday. Neither outing was especially concerning. The problem this weekend was that the Phillies also didn't hit, threatening in only two of 18 innings.

This team is built around its starting rotation and should win a lot of games 4-2, 4-3, 5-3. The Phillies are well-positioned to play from ahead with a strong back-end of the bullpen, but they're not as suited to overcome a big deficit with only a few true home run threats in Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.

Luzardo's next start is Saturday at Coors Field, where he pitched a gem last season, allowing just a run on two hits over six innings with 10 strikeouts. He'll be fine. It was a weekend to forget for plenty of Phillies.