Why Luzardo is the wild card of the Marlins' rotation

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- When the Marlins look at their starting rotation, they see certainty in reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara, steadiness in the addition of veteran righty Johnny Cueto, upside in Edward Cabrera and hope for a bounce back from Trevor Rogers. The wild card is Jesús Luzardo, who -- with some natural improvement -- they believe can turn their rotation from really, really interesting to potentially elite.

Plenty of reasons why were evident to see Tuesday, when Luzardo looked sharp despite Miami’s 2-1 loss to the Astros at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Fresh off a strong showing for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, Luzardo struck out five in five innings while building up to around 65 pitches in his first start back from the tournament.

“That was a good way to kick-start the year,” Luzardo said of the WBC. “That was some of the most fun I’ve had on a baseball field since I was a little kid.”

More fun might be in Luzardo’s future during what could be a big year for the 25-year-old southpaw. After posting a 3.32 ERA and a strong 30 percent strikeout rate over 100 1/3 innings in his first full season as a Marlin, the team is counting on Luzardo to take another step forward in 2023.

“I see a guy taking the next step in his career,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “Throwing strikes, early contact, not trying to strike everybody out. His stuff plays in the zone, and getting him in the zone at 97 to 100 [mph] with a little bit of movement and good secondary [stuff] is going to play.”

That stuff has always been Luzardo’s calling card, since he was a can’t-miss prospect with the A’s in the late 2010s: the upper-90s fastball and two big swing-and-miss pitches in his curveball and changeup. Efficiency is the point of emphasis this spring, as the Marlins look for Luzardo to establish himself by honing that plus stuff and stay healthy enough to fulfill his considerable potential.

That means fewer free bases, fewer deep counts and improving on the below-average 8.8 percent walk rate Luzardo posted in 2022. He’s certainly shown growth in that department in Grapefruit League play, posting a 15-1 strikeout-to-walk rate in 13 2/3 innings. He didn’t walk a batter Tuesday, allowing him to complete his scheduled stint on about 10 fewer pitches than what was a 75-pitch limit.

“No walks are a positive sign for me always,” Luzardo said. “That’s the one thing I’d say I’m focusing on, especially going into this year. Just staying on the attack. Me and [pitching coach] Mel [Stottlemyre] talk about it a lot, how important it is to let my stuff play in the zone. This is the perfect time to find the right algorithm, with the amount of strikes and how I can expand [the zone] and all that.”

Being more efficient will also help Luzardo simply pitch more innings after he missed more than two months last summer due to a left forearm strain. He alleviated those concerns with a strong finish (3.03 ERA in his final 12 starts), improving his strikeout and walk rates and quality of contact allowed in the process.

"He has the ability to strike people out when he needs it,” Schumaker said. “That’s just going to happen because he has elite stuff, but getting him deeper in games means getting early-count outs and relying on your defense."