Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishWASHINGTON — When Jesús Luzardo was a boy in Florida, he didn’t play on the best ballfields. The lights were not bright enough; he had trouble seeing the catcher’s signs or fly balls when he played in the outfield. His parents bought him rec specs. And Luzardo loved them.“So then I got to pro ball,” Luzardo said, “and I’m like, ‘I can’t take them off now.’ I’ve worn them my whole life.”But Luzardo’s eyesight is not terrible. He has never needed glasses anywhere else but on the baseball field. And he doesn’t even wear them when he throws side bullpen sessions. Often, the lenses he wears while on the mound aren’t prescription.The glasses mean something else to the lefty.“Now, when I put them on, it’s almost like … I don’t want to say an alter ego,” Luzardo said. “But I’m someone else when I put my glasses on. When I take my glasses off, I’m Jesús. I’m normal. Then I put them back on, and it’s go time for me.”The Philadelphia Phillies traded for Luzardo last December because they saw potential despite an injury-riddled 2024 season — and they have come to realize the soft-spoken starter has a hidden competitive energy. He fired his 95th and final pitch Saturday afternoon, a sharp slider that registered his 11th strikeout of an eventual 11-6 Phillies win over the Washington Nationals, and yelled as he came off the mound. He slapped his glove with his left hand.
Talk about a good first impression.
Jesús Luzardo strikes out 11 in his @Phillies debut! pic.twitter.com/KgiQw8JpK7
— MLB (@MLB) March 29, 2025It was a resounding statement.“Just excited to finish off strong after the mistake in the second,” Luzardo said. “I feel like I got in a groove at the end.”There was more to it than that. Luzardo was on this same mound 286 days earlier and could barely throw 93 mph. His back hurt. That June 16, 2024, start was Luzardo’s final one for the Miami Marlins. He’s insisted for months that he is right again. One start doesn’t prove it. So, it was a strong first impression.Luzardo threw two pitches at 98 mph all of last season. He threw three of them in the first two innings Saturday. His fastball sat 97 mph for five innings, almost 2 mph better on average than his velocity last season. He had not thrown this hard since the end of 2023. That was a breakout season for Luzardo.But Luzardo, 27, has always had to manufacture his own energy. He’s played in the majors for the A’s and Marlins. He’s tasted the postseason before, but this is Luzardo’s first time on a legitimate contender. He’s an important piece for these Phillies, but not the piece. Team officials were intrigued to see how Luzardo reacted to a new environment.“Really clear thinker,” Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham said. “He knows who he is. He knows what his game is. He knows where he needs to establish. So it’s really fun to just be around that. … Clear thinker, that’s a very high compliment because the game’s really loud. The clearer you can think, the better. He knows it’s why he’s so good. And on top of that, he’s a premier competitor.”Luzardo was intrigued by some of the ideas the Phillies had for him; he thought he had become a little stale in how he attacked certain hitters. Soon after the Phillies acquired Luzardo, he told Cotham that he had been tinkering with a cutter. Luzardo had never tweaked his arsenal much. “He led the conversation,” Cotham said. The pitching coach discussed different grips for Luzardo. They settled in spring training on a sweeping slider.Luzardo was skeptical about the pitch early in camp; he didn’t want it to blend with his standard slider. But it has morphed into an actual weapon. He threw the sweeper 21 times Saturday. Four of his strikeouts came on the new pitch. It can complement his harder slider.The new pitch wasn’t prominent in the pregame plan, Cotham said. But, around the third inning, Luzardo showed a better feel for how to use the pitch with the harder, traditional slider. Luzardo had struck out Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews in his first two at-bats without showing him the sweeper. In the fifth inning, Luzardo started him with a 97-mph sinker for a called strike. Then, he landed a back-door sweeper for strike two.It was the perfect setup for the back-foot slider. J.T. Realmuto called for it. Crews whiffed.“It’s just another way of getting guys out,” Luzardo said. “It just fits in the game plan in different ways than I would use my normal slider. Just finding different avenues of getting guys out. J.T. did a great job back there. We were all over the place — up, down, in, and out. Credit to him for keeping them off balance.”Luzardo made a mistake — a changeup without much action to Keibert Ruiz, who crushed a two-run homer. He walked two batters and his pitch count was high with the strikeouts. But it wasn’t hard to see the potential upside. Luzardo’s stuff had life. He’s already incorporated an adjustment to his arsenal. The whole picture is that of a young starter still learning how good he can be on the mound.“It’s not all about velo for me,” Luzardo said, “but it’s definitely a good measure of how I’m feeling.”He took off the glasses when he pitched in 2021 and had one of the worst seasons of his life. That added to his resolve. The glasses had to be part of it. He doesn’t have to see signs from the catcher in the PitchCom era, but whatever. Luzardo is committed.He believes in the power of being someone else when he steps on the mound. It starts with the glasses.Said Luzardo: “It’s more of like, ‘I’m ready to go.’”(Photo: Samuel Corum / Getty Images)
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