Philadelphia Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo is making a move to the injured list with a left shoulder injury, ending his 2026 regular season. Luzardo, 28, is in the midst of an unreal year with the Phillies, and is a huge reason for their resurgence following a slow start to the season. The left-hander has a career-best 2.87 through 29 starts this season, striking out 221 batters over the course of 178.2 innings pitched.
His 6.4 bWAR is by far the best of his career, and he has arguably outperformed teammate Cristopher Sánchez—who finished second in NL Cy Young voting last year — this season. While he has consistently performed well all season, Luzardo's best results have come during the second season. Since the All-Star break, he has a 1.84 ERA through 68.1 innings pitched while striking out 85 batters.
He threw 34.1 innings in August, allowing just five earned runs while recording 46 strikeouts. His last start came against the Atlanta Braves on Sept. 7, where he struck out 12 in the first complete game shutout of his career. Despite his late injury, Luzardo is confident he will come back during the postseason — whether it be as a starter or as a reliever.
"Guaranteed," he said, per Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer. "I can't say 100% I'm going to start, but that's the goal. I feel confident I can make that happen." The Phillies are in a fairly safe spot as far as the postseason goes, as they currently sit in the second Wild Card spot in the National League.
They are a game ahead of the San Diego Padres, who currently hold the final spot in the Wild Card, and 3.5 games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are the first team out of the postseason in the NL. Additionally, they are only 0.5 games back of the Wild Card-leading Chicago Cubs. Their position is incredibly impressive given their difficult start to the season.
They ended the month of April with a 12-19 record, which was the second-worst record in the NL at that time. With the wind in their sails, though, the Phillies will look to make up for last season's NLDS shortcomings whether they have Luzardo or not.
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