Jesús Luzardo's new pitch never failed to fuel an 11-6 Phillies win over the Nationals

Scott Lauber, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Mar 29, 2025

Published in Baseball

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WASHINGTON — Upon getting traded to the Phillies in December, Jesús Luzardo heard from his new pitching coach, who had a few ideas for how the lefty could make his top-of-the-rotation stuff even better.

Why throw one slider, Caleb Cotham said, when Luzardo can throw two?

“He’s always had that short, kind of dirty slider, and he worked on a little bigger one this offseason,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “This year, maybe he’ll be able to work two different types of sliders.”

Turns out that Luzardo is a quick study.

After only a month of busting out the new, sweepy slider in exhibition games, Luzardo fanned 11 batters Saturday — tied for second-most by a pitcher in his Phillies debut — in a Bryson Stott- and Brandon Marsh-powered 11-6 knee-slapper over the Nationals.

Oh, and five of those strikeouts came on, you guessed it, Luzardo’s new toy.

Luzardo hadn’t thrown a sweeper before now, but you wouldn’t have known. He uncorked 21 of them — count ‘em, 21!— from among 95 pitches, establishing it as much early (on a strikeout of James Wood, the third batter of the game) as often.

Luzardo struck out at least one batter in every inning. He whiffed the side against the top of the order in the fifth, getting CJ Abrams, Dylan Crews and Josh Bell, all swinging, all on sliders, including Abrams on the sweeper.

Only Garrett Stephenson piled up more Ks in his first Phillies start, with 12 in 1997 against the Cardinals. Jim Bunning also struck out 11 batters in his Phillies debut in 1964 against the Mets.

Hitters hit

Luzardo allowed little more than a two-run homer to Keibert Ruiz in the second inning. And while he carved up the Nationals, the Phillies pounded 14 hits and scored double-digit runs despite not having Trea Turner, scratched one hour before the game with back spasms after going through infield drills. Realmuto exited in the seventh inning with a bruised left foot, according to the Phillies, who said he was lifted “for precautionary reasons.”

The Phillies’ offense stirred, just like Thursday in a 7-3 Opening Day victory, against the Nationals’ bullpen. They scored five runs in the sixth inning and three in the seventh, on the strength of three-run homers from Kyle Schwarber and Marsh.

Schwarber broke it open in the decisive sixth inning. But two other left-handed batters — Stott and Marsh — put together the Phillies’ best at-bats of the game.

Start with Stott. Never mind that he didn’t get a fastball in a six-pitch at-bat against Jake Irvin in the fourth inning. Instead of waiting for a heater, he fouled off a curveball and a changeup before hooking a two-strike curve inside the right-field foul pole for a game-tying two-run homer.

In the sixth inning, the Nationals brought in lefty reliever Colin Poche, a strategy that teams will use to try to exploit a lefty-hitting pocket in the bottom half of the Phillies’ order. This time, Stott saw only fastballs, all at the top of the zone or above. He laid off the high pitches and worked a five-pitch walk with one out.

Marsh followed Stott and lined a two-strike single to right field to load the bases and knock Poche out of the game.

Sosa drew a walk against righty Lucas Sims to force in the go-ahead run before Sims uncorked a wild pitch to allow another, and Schwarber teed off for a three-run shot that turned a tight game into a 7-2 runaway.

Marsh’s homer in the seventh inning enabled the Phillies to empty the bench and bullpen before the Nationals scored three late runs. Stott reached four times (two hits, two walks) in five plate appearances; Marsh notched three hits after striking out four times on opening day.

But as the Phillies improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2022, Luzardo was the headliner. For years, the Phillies recognized his talent from facing him with the Marlins. But his combination of high velocity and solid command stood out even more to manager Rob Thomson in spring training.

“It was really impressive,” Thomson said before the game. “Seeing him from across the field, you only see him a few times, it looked good. But it looked better seeing him on a daily basis, how impressive he looked.”

And in his first Phillies start that counted, Luzardo raised the bar higher.

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