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…