On the rise: Jesus Luzardo, Oakland Athletics
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 9/30/1997 (20)
2018 level: high-A Stockton Ports
Info: When the Washington Nationals selected Luzardo in the 3rd round in 2016, many (including yours truly) thought it was the perfect organization for him to land. Luzardo had first round discussion around him before he ended up having Tommy John surgery before he was drafted, and few organizations have handled TJS as well with their draftees as the Nationals have.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Luzardo got on the mound in 2017, but before he could even get established in the Nationals organization, he was one of the key prospects included in the deal that brought relievers Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson to Washington. Luzardo continued to show well in the A’s system, finishing the year with a combined 43 1/3 innings pitched, and an amazingly impressive 5/48 BB/K ratio in those innings.
The Athletics felt confident enough in Luzardo that they skipped him over low-A straight to high-A. He’s already moved to AA, and he could certainly find his way to AAA by year’s end with his immense talent.
Luzardo’s fastball reaches 97, but he has excellent command of the pitch and gets very good late movement on it, making it a difficult pitch to square up for hitters. His curve is arguably a plus pitch already, if not even a double-plus pitch, and his ability to command it is rare.
This season, Luzardo’s showed big strides in his change and an ability to manipulate his fastball to get some cut out of the pitch, giving him a fourth look, all of which he commands very well. He doesn’t have a lot of pro mileage on his arm, so the A’s will likely handle him carefully, but it will not surprise if he is near the top of this list and in the top half of MLB top prospects after the 2018 season.
Next: CTTP's Top 150 prospects
So of the MLB top prospects, that is the top 10 left-handed pitching prospects for 2018. Who is too high? Too low? Missing entirely from the list? Comment below!!