MLB pitching breakout candidate: Jesus Luzardo
The Miami Marlins are considered by many to have a treasure trove of solid, young pitchers. In fact, such a vast treasure that they felt enough confidence to trade Pablo Lopez this offseason for offensive help. That confidence to watch Lopez walk out the door is due partially to the resurgence of Jesus Luzardo.
Luzardo’s path to 2022 was not ideal. Drafted in the third round by the Nationals, he was traded to the Athletics as part of a package that brought Sean Doolittle to the Nationals in 2017. After dominating every league of the Athletics farm system, he was eventually called up in 2019 while he was ranked #12 in MLB.com’s prospect rankings.
After a solid cup of coffee in 2019, Luzardo struggled in 2020. In the first half of the 2021 season, he struggled even more to the tune of a 6.87 ERA. Those struggles landed him in a trade package heading to Miami for outfielder Starling Marte.
His struggles continued with the Marlins as he finished the year with a 6.61 ERA. Hope was all but lost for Luzardo as he entered 2022. In 18 games in 2022, he pitched to a 3.32 ERA, 3.12 FIP, and 2.2 WAR.
He actually threw his curveball more than his fastball in 2022, and hitters batted .157 against it. his changeup and curveball had a 44.9 and 41.3 whiff percentage, respectively. His highest batting average against any pitch was his sinker, and that was .220. Luzardo almost used all four pitches evenly in 2022 to great success.
As with most young pitchers, after early struggles Luzardo appears to have finally tapped into his potential.