Phillies Star Pitcher Showing Some Similarities to All-Time Great Hall of Famer

The Philadelphia Phillies had a major need on their pitching staff heading into the offseason.

They were on the pursuit of a No. 5 starter to round out their rotation behind Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez after Taijuan Walker struggled mightily during the 2024 campaign.

The Phillies ultimately landed on Jesus Luzardo, a talented lefty from the Miami Marlins who has battled injuries and inconsistency to this point in his career.

His upside was immense, and Philadelphia was banking on him to replicate the form he showed in 2022 and 2023. There were some risks involved, with the team trading away top prospect Starlyn Caba as part of the package to get the deal done.

There were some concerns the Phillies would regret trading away as much as they did to land Luzardo, but he has proven all of his doubters wrong to this point.

Through his first eight starts in 2025, Luzardo has gone 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA. He has thrown 47 innings with 51 strikeouts, issuing only 13 walks and serving up only two home runs.

That has culminated in an MLB-best 2.1 WAR amongst pitchers.

It has also him in some rare company in franchise history, as he is right in the mix to lead the National League in ERA.

The last time a Philadelphia pitcher accomplished that feat was 1972 when Hall of Famer Steve Carlton had a 1.97 ERA.

He made 41 starts that year, going 27-10 with 30 complete games, eight shutouts and 346.1 innings pitched. Carlton struck out 310 batters and had an eye-popping 12.1 WAR, which led the sport.

Most of those numbers Luzardo isn’t going to sniff this season, but there are some similarities between him and Carlton that baseball historians will love.

“But here are the similarities: Carlton was 27 when he broke out for the Phillies following a trade from another National League franchise, the Cardinals. Luzardo is 27, was traded from Miami to Philadelphia in the offseason, and is on the doorstep of superstardom ... Considering the parallels, it would be fitting if Luzardo, following 21st century Phillies stars such as Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, was the one to join Carlton as an ERA champion,” wrote Jeffrey Lutz of MLB.com.

There is still a long way to go in the season, but the talented lefty has taken his game to another level thus far.

His expanded pitching arsenal and the improvements he has made velocity wise, throwing as hard as he ever has in his career, are culminating in what is once pace to be a career year.

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