ATLANTA — Jesús Luzardo, scratched from his scheduled start against the Atlanta Braves with shoulder stiffness, received encouraging news Saturday after an MRI revealed some inflammation but no structural damage to his shoulder.
“It’s kind of what we thought,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “We didn’t feel like there was anything truly going on other than the inflammation just causing stiffness, things like that. I do think it was the right thing to do (scratching him) last night. He would have taken the ball, but we just didn’t know what that pushes to the next one, then we’re doing this the rest of the year. It was better to take care of it now.”
The club and Luzardo remain in wait-and-see mode to see if three days without throwing eases the stiffness, but are optimistic about the pitcher’s prognosis in the meantime. They have no choice. Luzardo, who ascended to stardom this summer, is invaluable to the Phillies’ plans as the postseason looms. He has been one of the best starters in the sport since June, boasting a 2.01 ERA — best in the National League and second in all of baseball. Any lingering issue with Luzardo would be a devastating blow to the Phillies’ postseason outlook — particularly given his strength as a starter and reliever.
Luzardo said he’s dealt with soreness for a bit, but it worsened days after his complete game on Monday. He felt good during the outing, he said, as well as the next day. Then, the feeling worsened. He has struggled to get loose.
“It’s kind of an up-and-down thing,” Luzardo said. “One day I feel really good. One day I don’t feel too good. So it’s just kind of been bouncing back and forth. But again, I think we’re making strides in the right direction.”
After Luzardo threw a relaxed bullpen session Friday in Atlanta, the Phillies convened and decided to scratch him from his scheduled start on Saturday. In that conversation, Luzardo told his coaches, “If today was Game 7 of the World Series, I’m throwing no matter what.”
“But to get to that point,” Luzardo said, “it’s probably better to be smart now than it is to throw today and see my body getting worse throughout the next couple weeks. We’d rather get it (solved) right now.”
Luzardo said he is more frustrated about the timing of the inflammation, but he isn’t worried about it long term. He views this as something that will go away on its own. He dealt with shoulder problems as a young pitcher, including a shoulder strain that kept him from starting the season in the Athletics’ rotation as a rookie in 2019, but said his current situation is much better.
Luzardo will take a few days off, then reevaluate things after Monday’s off-day. How he feels is of the utmost importance with the postseason just two weeks away; the Phillies will need him to anchor one of the sport’s top rotations should they hope to make a deep run in October.
“Trying to put a timetable (on it) right now — like, when is going to be his next start? Where’s he going to be in three days? — just seems silly to try to do that,” Mattingly said. “It’s more, (let’s) listen to his body. We’ve gotten good news. Let’s take care of it and see where we’re at.”