Luzardo discusses trade to Phillies, thinks he’s past back injury

Luzardo discusses trade to Phillies, thinks he’s past back injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Jesus Luzardo was getting ready for a relaxing Sunday morning on the lake eight days ago when he received a call from the Marlins telling him he had been traded to the Phillies.

He didn’t expect the news that morning but was aware he could be on the move this offseason because of an increasing salary and the Marlins’ perpetual rebuild.

“I was getting ready to go fish, I actually got the call right before I got out on the boat,” Luzardo said Monday afternoon via Zoom.

“I could kind of see the writing on the wall but it’s always a big change, your life’s turned upside down. But definitely for a positive impact, I would say. I’m looking forward to it.”

Luzardo fills out the Phillies’ rotation and if he’s close to the pitcher he was in 2022 and 2023, they should boast baseball’s best and deepest starting staff with himself, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez. In 50 starts over those two seasons, Luzardo pitched to a 3.48 ERA with 328 strikeouts in 279 innings. His opponents hit .223.

A lefty with his velocity, secondary pitches and results could pitch as a No. 2 in most rotations. If he can stay healthy …

That is the big if, and the reason why the Luzardo trade cost the Phillies talented 19-year-old infielder Starlyn Caba but not one of their top three prospects (Andrew Painter, Aidan Miller, Justin Crawford). Luzardo missed two weeks last season with elbow tightness and did not pitch after June 16 because of a stress reaction in his lower back.

He is optimistic, though, about being past the back injury based on how he has felt this offseason and what he’s heard from doctors.

“I feel 100%, I’ve felt 100% the whole offseason,” he said. “Last year, the back was really the root of the issue and the problem. Now that we’ve got that figured out, thankfully everything is back to normal.

“The stress reaction was just basically a vertebra on the spine getting bothered by constant stress, constant rotation or the lack of rotation. At one point, it just gets really irritated. It bothered me doing a lot of things — tying my shoes, bending over, brushing my teeth, rotating on the mound. It definitely affected me in a lot of different ways and it was frustrating trying to maneuver that and still get out there and pitch every five days. It just got to a point where I couldn’t do it anymore.

“I took time off and the doctors all said the same thing: These things actually heal really well, and once it happens once, it usually doesn’t happen again. It’s more of just letting it calm down, letting it heal itself.”

Luzardo is 27 years old and isn’t set for free agency until after the 2026 season. He projects to earn $6 million through arbitration this offseason and might cost a total of $17-18M over the next two. Beyond the rotation boost he should provide the Phillies, that’s significant and necessary financial value compared to what starting pitchers are receiving in free agency.

The Red Sox last week signed Patrick Sandoval to a two-year, $18.25M contract and he won’t even pitch in the first half this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in June. Frankie Montas, a No. 4/5 starter, signed for $34M over two years with the Mets. Matthew Boyd, another back-end starter who hasn’t pitched a full season in five years, signed for $29M over two years with the Cubs.

Luzardo is younger than them all with a substantially higher ceiling and will likely earn less than them all in 2025 and 2026, which matters for a Phillies team already over the fourth and final luxury tax threshold of $301 million. Every dollar matters this offseason, as outlined here. The penalties are harsh. The Phillies are essentially paying double for every player they add.

“We asked about Luzardo a couple times during the winter just to check in, and then it happened very quickly last week,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said just before Christmas.

“We’ve liked him for a few years. He was down for a while last year, we did very thorough medicals and felt comfortable with where he is.”

So does Luzardo, who got started a bit earlier than usual this offseason to ease his transition into 2025. While he can’t guarantee the back injury won’t return, he’s put it out of his mind and thrown freely since the season ended.

“I don’t have the exact answer because I don’t know how I’ll feel in two, three, four, five years, but from what I’ve understood, once it heals, it calcifies or hardens up and you don’t have an issue again,” he said. “I’ve been able to get up on the mound, do what I need to do without any pain, no symptoms. Haven’t really thought of it or felt it, so hopefully it’s something that’s just behind me and never have to think about it again. That’s the understanding that I’ve gotten from these doctors so I’m not really worried about it right now.”