The Philadelphia Phillies locked in Jesus Luzardo a year before he was due to reach free agency by reaching agreement with the left-hander on a five-year contract extension worth $135 million, sources told ESPN.
Luzardo, 28, joined Philadelphia in a trade before the 2025 season and excelled for the Phillies, going 15-7 with a 3.92 ERA and striking out 216 in 183.2 innings. Fearful of losing him after the 2026 season, the Phillies made Luzardo one of the highest-paid left-handers in baseball, sources said, behind only aces Framber Valdez, Blake Snell, Garrett Crochet and Max Fried.
Featuring a 97-mph fastball and one of the game’s best sliders, Luzardo is one of the game’s premier strikeout artists. He will remain in a rotation that already includes the National League Cy Young runners-up from the past two seasons, Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler.
The deal, negotiated by Roger Tomas and Brodie Van Wagenen of Roc Nation, came together in recent weeks as Luzardo showed a desire to remain in Philadelphia following the deal that sent shortstop prospect Starlyn Caba and outfield prospect Emaarion Boyd to Miami in December 2024. The well-traveled Luzardo — who was drafted by Washington, traded to Oakland and dealt again to Miami — found stability in Philadelphia, which won the NL East last year and is aiming for a third consecutive division title this season.
Though elbow and back injuries limited Luzardo’s ability to stay on the field earlier in his career, never was his talent in doubt. A third-round pick in 2016 out of Stoneman Douglas High in South Florida, the 6-foot, 220-pound Luzardo has long been well-regarded for his electric left arm.
His 216 strikeouts last season ranked second in the NL behind San Francisco ace Logan Webb, and his strikeout rate of 10.58 per nine innings was behind only Dylan Cease, whose $210 million free agent contract over the winter, when deferred money is accounted for, is for slightly less per year than Luzardo’s deal.
Because of Luzardo’s low walk rate (2.79 per nine last year) and ability to limit home runs (0.78 per nine), the Phillies were comfortable tacking on five years to his $6.625 million salary this season. Only Cy Young winners Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal, Sánchez, Webb and Boston ace Garrett Crochet posted better Fielding Independent Pitching numbers — which tend to be a strong predictor of future performance — than Luzardo in 2025.
Leave a Reply