New Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Flashing Exciting New Pitch This Spring

The biggest splash the Philadelphia Phillies made this offseason came when they acquired left-handed starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo in a blockbuster deal with the Miami Marlins.

Dave Dombrowski made the big move on December 23, when he sent prospects Starlyn Caba and Emaarion Boyd to the Marlins for Luzardo, who struggled to a 3-6 record with a 5.00 ERA in an injury-shortened 2024 campaign.

Now healthy, Luzardo should bring something closer to his 2023 form to the Phillies. That year, he went 10-10 in 32 starts with a 3.58 ERA and 208 strikeouts over 178.2 innings pitched.

If Luzardo gets to that level again, he'll add another high-end starter to an already stacked starting rotation that features the likes of ace Zack Wheeler, veteran Aaron Nola and a fellow southpaw in Ranger Suarez.

The Phillies are handling Luzardo with caution this spring, as he has only pitched four innings over two appearances to this point. But in that limited sample size, he has showcased a new sweeper that he and the team hope will result in even more strikeout upside when the regular season rolls around.

The early returns on the pitch are so encouraging that MLB.com writer David Adler included Luzardo's new sweeper on his list of the 15 best new pitches from around the league in spring training.

"The Phillies went out this offseason and traded for Luzardo, who's coming off an injury-plagued 2024 but is just one year removed from a 208-strikeout season in 2023," Adler noted. "Right away, the power-pitching lefty has started throwing a new sweeper in Philadelphia. Luzardo has always had a great slider (108 of his K's in 2023 were on sliders), but his slider has very tight movement (just 0.1 inches of horizontal break that season). The new sweeper, on the other hand, is getting over seven inches of break."

Adler described Luzardo as a power pitcher, and he is correct in that assessment.

In his dominant 2023 season, Luzardo resided in the 90th percentile among MLB pitchers in fastball velocity at an average of 96.7 mph, according to Baseball Savant.

His chase and whiff rates were excellent that season as well, and those numbers would only stand to improve with a sweeper that can start in the zone against lefties before diving out of the picture.

Dombrowski and the Phillies made an aggressive move in deciding to augment an already strong portion of their roster in their rotation, but Luzardo is matching their aggression by pursuing the addition of a new dominant pitch.

If the sweeper sticks and looks as good in the regular season as it has in the spring, Luzardo will give Philadelphia another high-end arm to turn the ball over to in those crucial October games that the fans in the City of Brotherly Love have grown accustomed to.

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