Miami Marlins left-hander Jesus Luzardo has yet to find his groove in 2024.
Luzardo, still looking for his first win of the year, will start on Friday when the Marlins host the Washington Nationals to open a four-game series.
Luzardo, who is 0-2 with a 6.58 ERA in 2024, has been slumping since late last season. In his past 15 starts dating back to the beginning of August, he is 2-7 with a 5.20 ERA.
However, he is coming off his first quality start of the season, when he limited the Chicago Cubs to three hits and two runs in six innings on Saturday. The Marlins won that game 3-2, marking the first Miami victory with Luzardo on the mound this year.
"His velocity was up, slider was great -- that's the ace we're used to," Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said of Luzardo. "He threw a lot of first-pitch strikes.
"We know Jesus is a 'dude,' and now he's acting like that dude."
Luzardo isn't usually "the dude" against the Nationals, though, as he is 1-2 with a 5.52 ERA in six career starts vs. Washington.
As for the Marlins as a whole, Friday marks the start of a seven-game homestand against a pair of teams with losing records -- Washington and the Colorado Rockies.
Then again, no team in the National League has lost as many games as the Marlins.
Miami's offense -- no shock -- is led by second baseman Luis Arraez, who won the American League batting title with the Minnesota Twins in 2022 and captured the National League batting crown last year. After a slow start, he is hitting .299 following a 3-for-5 effort in the series finale at Atlanta on Wednesday.
The Braves won that contest 4-3 in 10 innings to complete a three-game sweep.
Surprisingly for the Marlins, outfielder Bryan De La Cruz leads the squad in homers (five) and OPS (.725). His career high in homers is 19, which he hit last year in his third season in the majors.
While the Marlins were idle on Thursday, the Nationals were losing at home 2-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who swept the three-game series.
The Nationals scored just four runs in the series, going 4-for-20 with runners in scoring position.
"We're struggling offensively as a whole," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "We can't put anything together."
Washington is set to start veteran right-hander Trevor Williams (2-0, 2.91) on Friday.
Williams, who turned 32 on Thursday, is 1-4 with a 5.26 ERA in 13 career games against the Marlins, including eight starts.
The Marlins pounded Williams last year as the veteran went 0-3 with a 7.59 ERA in four starts vs. Miami.
This season, though, the Nationals are 3-1 with Williams on the mound. In his most recent outing, on Saturday against the Houston Astros, Williams logged his first official quality start of the year, allowing just three hits, no walks and one run in six innings. He retired the final 13 batters he faced.
Unfortunately for the Nationals, their entire starting outfield is on the injured list: Victor Robles (strained left hamstring), Stone Garrett (broken left leg) and Lane Thomas (sprained left knee).
In addition, third baseman Nick Senzel was scratched from the lineup on Thursday due a stomach virus.
Washington did get catcher Keibert Ruiz back from the injured list on Thursday, and he went 0-for-4 against the Dodgers. The team cleared a roster spot for Ruiz's return by optioning catcher Drew Millas to Triple-A Rochester.
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