MIAMI – Marlins Venezuelan left-hander Jesús Luzardo was ruled out of the start he had scheduled for Saturday against the Mariners at loanDepot Park, the club announced on Friday. He will be examined for ongoing back problems.
In his last outing, last Sunday, Luzardo woke up feeling stiff in his back, but he took the mound anyway and completed five two-run innings. In his 77-pitch outing, his velocity was diminished, including a 3.1 mph drop on his four-seam fastball.
“He’s been dealing with this for a couple of weeks, but he obviously felt worse in his last start in Washington,” manager Skip Schumaker explained. “That speaks of the mentality he has, he likes to fight for his team, he even wanted to reach six innings. Honestly, he could have been written out of his previous outing as well. We’ll see what happens when he’s examined, but obviously it’s a blow for us.”
Luzardo, 26, who has been the center of several trade rumors, has an 86 ERA+ and 1.25 WHIP in 12 starts this year, after posting a 130 ERA+ and 1.22 WHIP in 2023.
