With career-high strikeout mark, Marlins’ Jesus Luzardo ends 2021 season on high note
.JPG "Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo walks from the mound during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)")
At various points over the last two months, during the ups and downs of his first dozen starts with his hometown team, Jesus Luzardo would lie awake at night. Frustration was a common feeling in these times.
“What am I doing wrong?” he said he would think to himself.
The 24-year-old lefty, who moved to South Florida when he was 1 and graduated from Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, showed bright spots in stints after being traded to the Miami Marlins midseason, but his overall results were lackluster at best. He knows he’s better than that. Much better.
Saturday, his final start of the 2021 season and his 12th since the Marlins acquired him from the Oakland Athletics in the Starling Marte trade, showed just how good he could be when he maximizes his potential.
Luzardo struck out a career-high 11 batters, walked none and gave up just one run in 5 1/3 innings of work to lead the Marlins to a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday at loanDepot park.
Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s 18th home run of the season, a three-run shot in the third, gave Luzardo all the run support he needed. Anthony Bass, Richard Bleier, Anthony Bender and Dylan Floro combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
“Hands down his best start since he’s been here,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.
Luzardo at one point struck out five consecutive batters, erased two of the six hits he allowed with double plays and only allowed multiple baserunners to reach in one of his five full innings. Matt Vierling’s RBI single in the fifth drove in the only run against Luzardo on Saturday.
His night ended after his 87th pitch, a 97.2 mph fastball near the top of the strike zone, induced National League MVP candidate Bryce Harper to whiff on a ferocious hack for a strikeout. It was Luzardo’s second strikeout against Harper.
Luzardo threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 21 batters he faced. Five of his strikeouts ended with a fastball — four four-seam fastballs and one sinker — and he induced 15 whiffs on 45 swings.
It was a solid finish to an otherwise shaky introduction with the Marlins. Luzardo pitched to a 6.44 ERA with 58 strikeouts against 32 walks over 57 1/3 innings in his 12 Miami starts. He only had three starts in which he pitched at least five innings and gave up fewer than three runs.
“I don’t think that year my time here reflects the pitcher I think I can be,” Luzardo said. “I had a tough year, and I had struggles while I was here, but finishing like that, on such a high note, for me is definitely a lot of motivation and kind of just makes me itch to get to spring training next year. I want to get going again.”
Despite the struggles, Luzardo remains optimistic for what’s the come. The Marlins do, too, seeing him as a potential piece in a starting rotation that is viewed as the organization’s strength.
“I felt like I was resilient enough to make some good starts here and there,” Luzardo said. “Obviously you want to be consistent and consistently good, but to be able to kind of battle through those tough times and then find the bright spots, hopefully I could be able to string them together next year. That’s the plan.”
This story was originally published October 2, 2021 at 9:03 PM.
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