SAN DIEGO -- After a forgettable 2021 season in which he missed time with a fractured left hand and got traded, only to struggle for the hometown club, Marlins left-hander Jesús Luzardo singularly focused on baseball, baseball, baseball. The dedicated offseason work at the gym seems to have paid off.

“Baseball is my life,” Luzardo said. “I take baseball very seriously, but especially after last year. It was just such a punch in the mouth that I felt like something had to change. I feel like that's something that helped me.”

If there's one silver lining during the Marlins' five-game losing streak, it's the consistency shown by Luzardo in the back of the rotation. Take away Miami native Manny Machado's two homers, and Luzardo was flawless Thursday night in a 2-1 loss to the Padres at Petco Park. Luzardo pitched into the seventh inning for the first time since Aug. 29, 2021, striking out seven batters, walking three and allowing only three hits.

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Lined up as the rotation's fifth starter, Luzardo has looked more like a former Top 100 prospect through five starts this season, compiling a 3.08 ERA in 26 1/3 innings. This is exactly what the Marlins had hoped for when they acquired him last year for outfielder Starling Marte, who was set to become a free agent. At the time, Luzardo looked lost on the mound, struggling to the tune of a 6.87 ERA. It got even worse pitching for Miami, as his ERA ballooned to 7.91 through Aug. 24. 

But Luzardo ended 2021 on a high note, striking out a then-career-high 11 batters across 5 1/3 innings in his final start. He has carried that momentum into '22. Throughout Spring Training camp, Luzardo's name was brought up as the guy with the nastiest stuff. That says a lot considering the staff includes All-Star Sandy Alcantara, NL Pitcher of the Month Pablo López and NL Rookie of the Year runner-up Trevor Rogers.

“He's been great,” manager Don Mattingly said. “We can't complain about Jesús. … For the most part all spring, all season, he's been ahead in the counts, throwing strikes, using all his pitches. He’s going to continue to get better as he goes in his career and through the year, but there's nothing that he's doing right now that you could ask for much more.”

On Thursday, Luzardo’s maximum velocity of 99.4 mph on a first-inning strikeout of Jake Cronenworth tied for the second-fastest pitch of his career -- a K of Matt Olson on April 24. His mark of 11.96 strikeouts per nine innings is sixth-most in the Majors behind Lucas Giolito (14.6), Shohei Ohtani (14.01), Eric Lauer (13.1), Shane McClanahan (13.08) and Carlos Rodón (12.7). That’s pretty good company to keep for the “fifth starter.”

As a prospect in the A's system, Luzardo’s changeup was considered his best secondary pitch. But he had gotten away from it at the Double-A and Triple-A levels when his breaking ball began to take off. In fact, Luzardo’s slurve usage had jumped to 44.2% in 2022 from 26.9% over his first three seasons. Understandable considering opponents were 4-for-38 vs. the pitch with 20 strikeouts this year. Only Kevin Gausman’s splitter (30), Rodón’s four-seamer (25) and McClanahan’s curve had resulted in more strikeouts. On Thursday, Luzardo’s changeup reintroduced itself, inducing six whiffs on 11 swings -- by far the highest percentage across his 98 pitches.

“Changeup's always been there for me,” Luzardo said. “I feel like I got away from it last year. Now I'm kind of mixing it back in this year. Want to use all three pitches and kind of keep all three in the mix.”

So even while the club scuffles, it's reassuring to know that these pitching performances are possible. More often than not, they will help halt losing streaks. During the first four games of this skid, the rotation posted an 8.68 ERA. The last time the Marlins won was Saturday, when Luzardo toed the rubber for his first quality start of the season.

“Just as a whole, we struggled a little bit this time through the rotation, and I felt like I wanted to get us back on track,” Luzardo said. “Having Sandy and Pablo going the next few days, they're going to get their feet back under them and pitch how they can pitch. Just wanted to put out a good start, kind of keep us deep into the game and allow us to have a chance to win.”