Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo is playing it ‘smart’ by not playing through his nagging shoulder stiffness

ATLANTA — If Jesús Luzardo had his way, he would have pitched on Saturday.

The Phillies left-hander was scratched from his scheduled start against the Braves due to left shoulder stiffness. As the calendar flipped to September and the innings started to pile up, Luzardo said he started feeling sore, and it worsened after his two-hit shutout against Atlanta on Sept. 7.

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An MRI on Friday evening revealed no structural damage, and Luzardo said if needed, he would have taken the ball and felt confident he’d be able to get outs. But with the postseason in mind, the Phillies staff chose caution and opted to give the 28-year-old pitcher extra rest.

“That was a conversation I had with them: If today was Game 7 of the World Series, I’m throwing no matter what,” Luzardo said. “But I think to get to that point, it’s probably better to be smart now than it is to throw [Saturday] and then see my body getting worse throughout the next couple weeks, so I think we’d rather get it right now.”

The lefty dealt with plenty of injuries earlier in his career, undergoing Tommy John surgery before he was even drafted in 2016 and hitting the injured list several times during previous stops in Oakland and Miami. But since arriving in Philadelphia via trade in December 2024, Luzardo had never missed a start until now. He pitched a career-high 183 ⅔ innings in 2025 and already has 178 ⅔ this season.

Luzardo said he believes inflammation is the root of the issue. He has not taken any injections such as a cortisone shot, which would require him to be shut down for a few days afterward. He is taking a few anti-inflammatory medications.

The Phillies have no plans to place Luzardo on the 15-day injured list at this point. They hope that rest will resolve the stiffness and that he will be able to start next week. The Phillies also have an off day on Monday, which gives Luzardo an extra day.

Interim manager Don Mattingly said he was “really encouraged” about Luzardo’s MRI results.

“It’s kind of what we thought,” he said. “We didn’t feel like there was anything truly going on other than the inflammation, which was causing the stiffness and things like that. I do think it was the right thing to do for sure. … He would have taken the ball, but we just didn’t know if that pushes to the next one, and then we’re doing this the rest of the year. So it feels better to take care of it now, get it knocked out, and then just have Zeus be Zeus.”

Luzardo isn’t sure the complete game, which was the first of his career and required 109 pitches, was the cause of the stiffness.

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“If you ask me, I think it’s a coincidence, especially because I felt good in the moment,” he said. “Yeah, I honestly don’t know. Maybe it didn’t help, but again, it’s September, so it could have really been anything.”

Adding to the frustration is the fact that Luzardo had been hitting his stride in the second half. The shutout against Atlanta had just been the latest in a dominant stretch for the left-hander, who has a 1.84 ERA and 0.85 WHIP in 10 starts since the All-Star break.

“I would like to get back to action as fast as possible for the team, for the organization,” Luzardo said.

With Luzardo down, the Phillies instead went with a bullpen game on Saturday with Tim Mayza opening. Orion Kerkering was also expected to appear, although he has been dealing with “turf toe” since his last appearance on Sept. 4 that has kept him in a walking boot away from the field.

“He threw a [bullpen session] that went good, and so really since then it’s just been choosing whether to use him or not,” Mattingly said of Kerkering. “So we feel good about him. He feels good about pitching and all that stuff. He may be a little sore to run, but it’s not like something that he’s going to do any damage to it or anything like that. So the pitching part is fine.”

Tanner Banks (left forearm strain) joined the team in Atlanta and is expected to be activated from the 60-day injured list Sunday. … Nestor Cortes was scheduled to pitch an inning for triple-A Lehigh Valley on Saturday. … Andrew Painter (3-9, 5.71 ERA) is scheduled to start Sunday’s series finale opposite Atlanta right-hander Grant Holmes (9-5, 3.46).

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The Phillies and Braves are set to square off again this weekend in Atlanta, so it’s the perfect time to check in with Jeff Francoeur, who played for both teams and calls Braves games on TV and radio. Francoeur joined Phillies Extra to help break down the race for NL East supremacy. Watch here.

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