Jesus Luzardo Reflects on Successful First Season With Phillies

Jesus Luzardo’s first year with the Philadelphia Phillies couldn’t have gone better, and the stats back that up. 

The left-hander recorded a 3.92 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP, while pitching a career-high 183.2 innings. Plus, Luzardo took plenty of strides with his pitch-mix, helping him record a strikeout rate of 28.5 percent and a walk-rate of 7.5, all while limiting hard contact.

What exactly made Luzardo’s first year with the Phillies so successful, and in some ways, dominant?

Luzardo believes there were two pitches that especially helped him reach new heights with the Phillies in 2025: his sweeper and his changeup.

“I think that adding the sweeper was extremely important for me. It was something that I didn't have early in my career, and it was kind of a helper for both right-handed and left-handed batters. The changeup came a long way throughout the year; definitely an equalizer. And just locating myself a little bit better,” explained Luzardo in a recent interview with MLB Network.

”Kind of riding the highs and the lows, balancing those out and not never getting too high, never getting too low. I think that just a little bit of maturing throughout my career has really helped me.”

The left-hander isn’t downplaying the impact that his sweep had on his overall arsenal. This pitch alone had an opponent batting average of .178 and a putout rate of 29.3 percent. Luzardo’s changeup was solid, too, with a whiff-rate of 36.2 percent. 

Luzardo was also incredibly complimentary about working with a catcher like J.T. Realmuto, which he believed helped his overall performance. 

“I can't speak highly enough about JT,” Luzardo said. “He's extremely prepared. He works extremely hard physically, mentally, doing his homework. He's always there early watching video, doing his scouting reports, whether it's hitting, whether it's behind the plate. He does as much as he can to be prepared for us as pitchers as well. He has an individualized plan for each pitcher that goes out there,” explained the Phillies starter.

“I'm extremely happy to be his teammate. I think it's an honor for me to be able to share the field with him, and I look forward to doing so again in the coming year.”

With Luzardo going into his second season with the Phillies, working more on the sweeper and changeup he introduced last season, and having Realmuto behind the plate once again, it’s fair to expect similar production from him in 2025, if not even better.

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