Jesus Luzardo implodes, Phillies look lifeless in embarrassing, 11-2 loss to the Cubs in South Philly

Phillies fans have read this Jesús Luzardo story already. It’s just part of the package with this guy, right? He has some of the highest upside of any left-handed starter in baseball, and then he’ll pull stunts like he did on Wednesday night in the Phillies’ embarrassing 11-2 loss to the Cubs at Citizens Bank Park.

Chicago was swinging at his pitches like they had the signs taped to the dugout wall. Every hitter looked comfortable. Every swing was on time. Nothing was missing the barrel. And if that sounds familiar, it should.

It looked identical to that two-start stretch last season when Luzardo allowed 20 runs in 5 2/3 innings against the Brewers on May 31 and the Blue Jays on June 5. We all settled on the reason back then. Luzardo was tipping pitches.

This time around he’s saying that has nothing to do with it. The Phillies are backing him on that analysis, which is fine, but something is very clearly off.

Let’s do some quick math. Remove those two tipping starts from last year and Luzardo’s ERA drops from 3.92 to 3.03. That’s a drastic difference and it easily proves that outside of that stretch he was one of the best pitchers in the game. Through his first 11 starts he posted a 2.15 ERA.

Over his final 11 he had a 2.84 ERA. Ace-level production for 22 of 32 starts. That’s why the Phillies handed him a five-year, $135 million deal at the end of Spring Training.

The problem is that so far in 2026, that investment looks like a disaster.

Through four starts his ERA sits at 7.94. On Wednesday he allowed nine earned runs and 12 hits over 5 2/3 innings. The most he’s allowed in a start since the last time people were whispering about pitch tipping.

He’s only the third pitcher this year to allow four or more earned runs in three different starts. For $135 million you expect better. Way better.

Jesus Luzardo has given up five or more runs in three of his four starts

Jesus Luzardo‘s ERA is now 7.94. He gave up 9 runs, 8 earned tonight. He has given up five or more runs in three of his four starts 😳 pic.twitter.com/s7zNuJX4yE

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) April 16, 2026

Jesus Luzardo has the stuff, which isn’t the problem.

Entering Wednesday, Luzardo ranked in the top eight percent among pitchers in hard-hit rate, chase rate, whiff rate, and strikeout rate. He’s got filthy stuff. He’s also been dealing early in every single start.

His first time through the order this year, Luzardo has a 0.90 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 10 innings. Hitters can’t touch him. Then the lineup flips over and he turns into a batting practice pitcher.

Across the second and third times through the order this season, Jesus Luzardo has allowed 22 hits and 17 earned runs in 12 2/3 combined innings with 18 strikeouts.

That’s a 12.08 ERA. Twelve. If the season ended today, that would be the highest second-and-third-time-through ERA since 1974, when that split started being tracked.

The next highest over a full season would be Jeremy Hellickson in 2017 at 7.54. Ol’ friend Hellboy at least had the decency to be bad across the board but this is something else entirely.

Last year it was the opposite. The second and third times through the order in 2025, he posted a 3.19 ERA over 113 innings. The first time through he had a 5.06 ERA.

Literally inverted. Nothing about this makes sense.

Same shit on Wednesday with Jesus Luzardo

Early on, Luzardo looked like himself. First time through the order he threw his sweeper 39 percent of the time, leaned on the sinker, and cut his four-seam usage roughly in half. The Cubs managed two hits and didn’t score.

Then the lineup turned over and the wheels came off the entire bus. Velocity dipped. He started leaning on the four-seamer, which got crushed. He moved away from the sinker because it was also getting crushed. The Cubs piled up 10 more hits and tagged him for eight runs.

Of the eight sinkers put in play, six were hard-hit and four fell for hits. The sweeper, a pitch opponents had hit just .059 against coming into the night, got tattooed. Four hits against it by the end of the game.

That’s only the third time since the start of last season he’s allowed that many hits on the pitch. When the swings look that comfortable against your best stuff, you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out something’s leaking.

The Phillies have a pattern to work with…

The only sliver of good news is that there’s a visible pattern. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham has worked closely with Jesus Luzardo since he got to Philly, especially on the sweeper. That gives them something concrete to attack. Pitch sequencing. Rhythm. Usage patterns inning to inning. All of it is on the table.

Luzardo has also been allergic to runners on base his entire career.

For his career he has a 9.22 ERA with men on. This year? Try 24.55. The highest mark in baseball. Let that sink in for a second. The highest in baseball.

The Phillies are carrying World Series expectations right now. They can’t afford to have $135 million of their rotation pitching like Colorado’s fifth starter. Luzardo has already proven he can work through stretches like this.

He did it last year after the tipping debacle and came out the other side as one of the best pitchers in the National League. Rob Thomson thinks that toughness still matters. I want to believe him, I really do but if this keeps up through May, it’s not going to be a blip anymore.

If the Cubs really did know what was coming Wednesday, then Jesus Luzardo needs to figure out what he’s doing different before every team in the league catches on because right now, he’s a free lunch once he sees the lineup twice.

Just to be clear, free lunches don’t cost $27 million a year.

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