After a breakout 2025 campaign in which Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo went 15-7 with a 3.92 ERA, he secured a five-year, $135 million deal. But despite that All-Star-caliber season, Luzardo has not met expectations early in 2026.
Following a tough outing against the Chicago Cubs, questions have resurfaced about whether Luzardo might be tipping his pitches the same concern that came up during his slump last May, when he posted a 5.56 ERA over the month. In back-to-back starts against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 31 (12 runs allowed) and the Toronto Blue Jays on June 5 (eight runs), he surrendered a combined 20 earned runs in just 5.2 innings.
Luzardo, however, insists pitch-tipping isn’t the issue.
“I’m not tipping,” he told OnPattison’s Tim Kelly. “We put in a ton of work to prevent that. All my between-starts throwing is out of the stretch, and we’re always focused on tightening things up. Something is obviously off and needs to be fixed ASAP, but it’s not tipping. It might be pitch usage or something else I don’t want to guess. I want to dig into it.”
The 28-year-old is currently 1-2 with a 7.56 ERA, having given up eight earned runs (nine total) across 16.2 innings. That’s a stark contrast from last April, when he opened the year 2-0 with a 1.44 ERA through five starts.
His latest line against the Cubs on Wednesday: five innings, 12 hits, nine runs (eight earned), one walk, and four strikeouts on 98 pitches (64 strikes).
Luzardo isn’t the only Phillies starter scuffling. The entire rotation has struggled, owning the third-worst ERA in MLB at 5.11 and sitting tied for 13th in homers allowed (11).
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