Jesus Luzardo is thankful for two things as the Philadelphia Phillies are close to starting Spring Training games.
The 2026 season is bound to be a pivotal year for both the Philadelphia Phillies and Jesus Luzardo.
The team's starting rotation will be tested right out of the gate, and needs to be elite again for the Phillies to win the National League East, and Luzardo is entering a contract year where he could set himself up for a massive payday next winter.
The Phillies Grapefruit League schedule starts on Saturday, but the team has been busy with workouts, including live batting practice, during which Luzardo has pitched.
So far, the left-hander says he's "felt great" in those appearances. Luzardo faced five batters on Wednesday and struck out three of them.
Luzardo feels like there are two things that have really stood out earlier in camp: command and health.
"I think just commanding the zone, command of all my pitches, health, and I think when you check those off early in camp, that's obviously huge," Luzardo said on Thursday.
"The rest just kind of comes along with experience throughout camp and the workload. But health and command, I think, are two big ones for me. A nice little boost of confidence going into games soon. Feeling good. Something I worked on a lot, this obstacle is just commanding on my pitches. So, hopefully, you know, we continue to do that."
Jun 22, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo (44) enters the field before the game against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn ImagesAs good a pitcher as Luzardo was in 2025, his biggest struggle was command, a theme throughout his career. The left-hander had a walk rate of 7.5 percent a year ago.
Even with those struggles, Luzardo ended up with a 3.92 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, a strikeout rate of 28.5 percent, and a whiff rate of 30.3 percent.
If Luzardo can cut down on the walks, or at least work on getting ahead in counts, he could very well take another step in 2026, and could even be a dark-horse candidate to receive some Cy Young votes by the end of the year.
The fact that Luzardo has identified that and is already making strides to improve his command during training camp should give the Phillies a lot of hope about the pitcher he can be next year.
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