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Phillies Could Reportedly Put Jesus Luzardo in Bullpen After Latest Development

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jon Conahan | Last updated Jun 22, 2025 3:05 PM ET

It seems forgotten that the Philadelphia Phillies will be without Jose Alvarado for the postseason. For the Phillies, they have to worry about getting there first, as the National League is loaded. However, the Phillies, at 44-30, seem to be in a good position to make the playoffs, at the very least.

But for Philadelphia, there are plenty of things it has to consider. If the Phillies want to be the team they're looking to be, it might require them to replace Alvarado with a reliever at the deadline.

Despite that, The Athletic doesn't expect that to be the case. The reason is that someone like Jesus Luzardo could be pitching as a reliever in October.

“Because I think one of the three lefties in the current rotation (Cristopher Sánchez, Ranger Suárez, Jesús Luzardo) will be pitching as a reliever in October,” Matt Gelb wrote.

Putting Luzardo in the bullpen in October would be a bit of a surprise, given what he did in the early stages of the campaign.

Entering the month, he had a 3.58 ERA, and on May 25, he had a 2.15 ERA. However, since then, he's been below average, allowing 25 earned runs in his last four starts.

While that's very inflated because of a 12-run outing against the Milwaukee Brewers, the left-hander still has a 4.41 ERA and has struck out 97 hitters in 83.2 innings.

He was a Cy Young candidate just a few weeks ago.

Everything will play out the way it's supposed to, and the Phillies will make a decision then, but Luzardo going to the bullpen would be a surprise.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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