Phillies Are Smart To Take Precautions With Jesus Luzardo

The Philadelphia Phillies lost their series opener against the Atlanta Braves 6-5 in 11 innings, putting them five games behind in the National League East race with 14 games remaining in the regular season.

Already not having the tiebreaker, which means the Phillies are essentially six games behind, they could be turning their focus to just clinching a playoff spot. They are tied with the Chicago Cubs for the first Wild Card spot in the NL, but because of another tiebreaker, they are holding the second spot.

It would certainly be nice to get home-field advantage in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, but locking down the No. 4 spot is going to be difficult. Not only do the Phillies face the toughest remaining strength of schedule in the NL, but they are also now dealing with an injury to star pitcher Jesus Luzardo.

The All-Star hurler has been scratched from his start against the Braves on Saturday night because of stiffness in his left shoulder. Interim manager Don Mattingly doesn’t seem too concerned about the injury right now.

Jesus Luzardo absence would be massive blow to Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo (44) throws a pitch. — Sep 7, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo (44) throws a pitch during the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“As we worked through it the last couple of days, we thought he's gonna be able to make the start,” Mattingly said, via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. “He’s still not quite there. We feel like it's safer to be careful with him. We don’t want this to linger, so it's one of those things, we want to try to take care of it and just go from there.”

This is the right approach for the team to be taking. If Philadelphia is going to have any hopes of making noise in the playoffs, they need Luzardo healthy and performing at the level he has shown he is capable of.

In his most recent outing, which was against Atlanta, he threw the first complete game of his career, and it happened to be a shutout. He struck out 12 batters and helped the Phillies salvage a split in the four-game series.

While it would certainly be nice to get home-field advantage, the Phillies are better off ensuring Luzardo is healthy for the postseason than pushing for a No. 4 seed. Earning that seed but at the expense of his health is worse than just landing the No. 5 seed and having him healthy for the postseason.

Right now, the plan is for him to take the mound sometime next week.

Phillies don't seem overly concerned with Jesus Luzardo ailment

“That's the first plan,” Mattingly said. “Yeah, he needs just a couple extra days, works it out of there, and go from there.”

Hopefully, that helps him get rid of the soreness that is plaguing him, and he can get the necessary work in before the playoffs begin. Luzardo thought he could pitch against the Braves today, but the team is being extra cautious.

“Well, if it lingers, it obviously would be a big blow and I would be more concerned to this point,” Mattingly said. “I don't feel that same way. He was at the point today, we talked with him. He threw a little touch-and-feel [bullpen session] today, just to see where he was at. He's just really having trouble getting loose. He thought he could pitch. We didn't feel like it was the best thing.”

With Luzardo sidelined, Philadelphia is going to go with a bullpen game in Game 2 of their series in Atlanta. Should that start not come on the road, Luzardo will have made some incredible MLB history with his performance away from Citizens Bank Park.

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