Under control, Luzardo eyes steady 2022

JUPITER, Fla. -- As Jesús Luzardo put it, “things just kind of spiraled out of control” for the Marlins left-hander last year. Today, the 23-year-old South Florida native aims to have a steadier approach on the mound, and the results of his first two spring outings indicate he’s on the road to accomplishing that goal.

Luzardo followed up his impeccable first Grapefruit League start -- three no-hit innings -- with another commendable outing Sunday in the Marlins’ 4-3 loss to the Astros at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Luzardo allowed no earned runs over four innings, surrendering five hits and one walk. He registered five strikeouts during his 61-pitch outing (41 of them strikes).

“My stuff felt really good in general, as a whole,” Luzardo said. “I felt like as the game went along, I settled in and kind of found my pitches and just kind of got in my groove. It’s something we’ve worked on ... not letting the game spiral out of control.”

That was not always the case last season for Luzardo, who was traded to Miami from Oakland at the Trade Deadline in a deal that sent outfielder Starling Marte to the A’s.

Luzardo, who graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Fla., finished the season in Miami strong, but he had a 6-9 record with a 6.61 ERA in 25 games for the Marlins and A’s. Those stats somewhat tempered the thrill of him returning home to South Florida, where he grew up a Marlins fan. Manager Don Mattingly said the transition isn’t always seamless in those situations.

“I think it’s tough for guys coming into a new team -- that’s hard, and then come into your hometown,” Mattingly said. “People always say, ‘It’ll be great to play in your hometown.’ I’m not so sure about that. Now you got everybody you know, if you’re not doing so well, they’re all telling you about everything that’s going wrong, ‘You did this in high school, you did that when you were playing Little League.’ You don’t necessarily need all those voices. So that can be a little distracting, I think. I’m sure he’s going to be good at tuning out what he needs to tune out. We just look for consistency out of Jesús.”

Luzardo said that he has a rather small circle of close friends he hangs out with and has learned to shut out the distractions of “different people pulling you different ways.” As for the consistency that Mattingly referenced, Luzardo feels that has improved, too.

“At this stage of Spring Training, I would say my command right now, especially with the fastball, is probably the best it’s been in a while,” Luzardo said. “I know early today, I struggled to get ahead, but I found it later on. I have a lot more confidence in it [than a year ago].”

Mattingly also said an important component for Luzardo’s growth as a Major League pitcher is to be able to keep his emotions in check whenever he finds himself in a jam, such as he did Sunday after giving up back-to-back singles to lead off the game.He settled down and got out of the inning unscathed.

Luzardo induced an inning-ending double play in the third after the Astros scored an unearned run. And in the fourth inning, he picked Alex Bregman off second base after Bregman had doubled off the left-field wall to open the inning, then he closed out his day with consecutive strikeouts.

“[My start] five days ago is hard to beat, because no one got on base, but I think it’s growth for me,” Luzardo said of his two spring outings so far. “I feel like last year, the game might have spiraled out of control for me at one point. When it was first and third with no outs, last year I would have walked a guy or gave up a hit. Today, I feel like there’s no pressure, no panic.

“My back could be to the wall, and I’m just nice and under control. ... I would say it's maturity. Last year, I just felt like I was out of place, maybe I felt like I didn’t belong. ... Last year was so frustrating for me, and I felt like things just kind of spiraled out of control. I feel like now, I’m just in the right state.”

Both physically and mentally, which is positive news for the Marlins.