PHILADELPHIA – The Phillies added further depth to one of the strongest rotations in baseball on Sunday, acquiring left-handed starter Jesús Luzardo and Minor League catcher/outfielder Paul McIntosh from the Marlins in exchange for two prospects.

Shortstop Starlyn Caba (Phillies' No. 4 prospect) and outfielder Emaarion Boyd (Phillies' No. 23 prospect) are heading to Miami, and Philadelphia designated left-handed pitcher Tyler Gilbert for assignment to clear a spot for Luzardo on the 40-man roster.

TRADE DETAILS
Phillies get: LHP Jesús Luzardo, Minor League C/OF Paul McIntosh
Marlins get: SS Starlyn Caba (PHI No. 4 prospect), OF Emaarion Boyd (PHI No. 23)

“First of all, we like Jesús Luzardo a great deal,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Monday night. “We think he’s a quality big league pitcher and we’ve liked him for a few years.”

Luzardo, who is arbitration-eligible and under team control through 2026, joins a rotation that already features Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez. The Phils also signed veteran swingman Joe Ross on Monday afternoon to provide further pitching depth -- and another potential starting option, if needed.

And of course, Andrew Painter -- Philadelphia's No. 2 prospect, according to Pipeline -- is waiting in the wings. Dombrowski shed some light on the Phillies’ plan for Painter in 2025 after the 21-year-old missed the last two seasons due to an elbow injury that ultimately resulted in Tommy John surgery.

Though he’s fully healthy -- and dominated in his six Arizona Fall League starts -- Painter is not expected to pitch in Spring Training. He will throw in Clearwater, but the Phillies would rather wait to ramp him up later in an effort to save his innings for the season.

With that in mind, the club is likely targeting sometime around July for Painter to join the big league rotation, and that leaves Luzardo to fill that final rotation spot until then. Veteran righty Taijuan Walker is entering the third season of his four-year, $72 million deal, but he’s coming off a disastrous 2024 campaign in which he had a 7.10 ERA and struggled to ever gain a feel for his splitter. He was moved to the bullpen down the stretch, and that’s likely where he’ll begin the season following this latest move.

“We had told him in the beginning when he left [for the offseason] that he wasn't guaranteed a spot in the rotation,” Dombrowski said of Walker. “So it's something where he'll have to earn a spot to pitch with us.”

The 27-year-old Luzardo had his own struggles last season, recording a 5.00 ERA over 12 starts in 2024 before his season came to an end due to a lumbar stress reaction. He missed time with left elbow tightness as well. A former top prospect, Luzardo has battled injuries throughout his career, tossing just 512 innings in parts of six seasons for the A's and Marlins.

However, the southpaw showed his upside in 2022-23, posting a 3.48 ERA (129 ERA+) with a 10.6 K/9 in 50 starts over those two seasons, which also included a start against the Phillies in Game 1 of the 2023 NL Wild Card Series. Luzardo’s best season came in 2023, when he made 32 starts and notched a 3.58 ERA with 208 strikeouts over 178 2/3 innings for Miami.

That’s the version of Luzardo the Phillies are hoping to get as they continue to put more emphasis on run prevention.

The Phils boast a stacked rotation led by Wheeler, who has finished as the NL Cy Young runner-up in two of the past four seasons. Along with being one of the best pitchers in the Majors, he’s also established himself as one of the most dominant postseason pitchers of all time.

Nola, meanwhile, has been one of the most durable arms in the Majors for the past seven seasons, leading all pitchers in starts and innings since 2018, while ranking second in strikeouts (1,406) and fourth in wins (80). Toss in Suárez and Sánchez, who were each first-time All-Stars last season, and the Phillies already had arguably the top one through four of any rotation in baseball.

“I've always felt that the best way to win is to try to throw a quality starting pitcher out there every single day if you can,” Dombrowski said. “It gives you the odds to win. We just felt that by acquiring Luzardo, it gives us that capability.”

The addition of Luzardo not only has the potential to improve that group even further, but it also provides flexibility with Suárez entering the final year of his contract. He’ll likely be in line for a sizable deal next offseason, and while that could make him a potential trade candidate, the Phils have said they’d like to keep him in the organization.

"We like our rotation. I like it a great deal,” Dombrowski said. “You're always open-minded to anything, and I will say some clubs called right away as soon as they heard that we had made the trade. Again, you listen to anything, but I really like the idea of having the five starters out there with Ross and Walker, and then we do have some good young pitching in addition to Painter."