Jesus Luzardo thankful to play for Marlins and knows where he needs to improve for 2022
As Jesus Luzardo placed Thanksgiving meals into passing car after passing car, he took some time to reflect.
The 24-year-old left-handed pitcher grew up in South Florida, raised in Parkland after his family moved to Florida when he was 1 and graduated from Stoneman Douglas High. He grew up a Marlins fan and was in the stands in October 2003 as his hometown team won its second World Series.
So while he was helping with the Marlins’ annual Thanksgiving food distribution, Luzardo was thankful for the opportunity now in front of him after being traded to his hometown team in the Starling Marte trade on Aug. 28.
“It’s something I grew up dreaming about,” Luzardo said. “Being out here, I always wanted to be a Marlin, always came to Marlins games growing up with my dad and my family. Being able to be out here and help the community in a Marlins jersey, it means a lot to me.”
What also means a lot to Luzardo: Helping his hometown team win.
And after a shaky first 12 games on the mound in a Marlins uniform, Luzardo is using this offseason to learn from his mistakes and get ready for a bounce-back year in 2022.
His base statistics weren’t pretty after being traded to Miami. Luzardo posted a 6.44 ERA (41 earned runs in 57 1/3 innings) during those dozen starts and only made it through the sixth inning once.
“This year was not a year that I was expecting,” Luzardo said. “A lot of struggles, a lot of ups and downs.”
But there are some identifiable adjustments to make as well as some strengths to build on.
To start with the strengths, Luzardo ranked in the 74th percentile among pitchers this year in swing-and-miss rate, with opponents missing on 29.4 percent of the pitches they swung at against Luzardo this year.
His curveball played a big role in that number. Opponents hit just .188 against Luzardo’s breaking ball this year and the pitch was responsible for 55 of Luzardo’s 98 strikeouts. His 42.4 percent swing-and-miss rate with the pitch ranked third best among pitchers who had opponents swing on at least 250 curveballs last season.
But Luzardo struggled with his fastballs this year. Opponents hit .348 against his four-seam fastball and .337 against his sinker — marks that ranked as the sixth and ninth worst in baseball last year among those who threw each pitch at least 400 times according to Statcast.
“We still have to get some fastballs in good spots,” pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said in September of Luzardo’s fastball location. “He’s starting to get more fastballs in the zone, but we have to be specific when we’re throwing a large dose of secondary pitches and make sure that they’re in good areas to complement that. … Once he gets a handle on that, we can start to dive in and get a little more specific in detail with some things.”
And if Luzardo figures things out, he has the potential to be a long-term piece in a starting rotation led by Sandy Alcantara and Trevor Rogers and could also include any combination of Luzardo, Pablo Lopez, Elieser Hernandez, Sixto Sanchez and Edward Cabrera to start the 2022 season.
“When I first got traded over, I didn’t really know what I was walking into,” Luzardo said about joining the Marlins’ rotation. “I heard a lot about these guys, but when I was able to sit down and watch all of them pitch and how they dissect lineups and kind of pick their brain, I was extremely excited. It’s also a tool that each one of us uses.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
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