Phillies Star Pitcher Seems To Have Solved Potential Pitch Tipping Issues

Through his first 11 starts with the Philadelphia Phillies, Jesus Luzardo was making a case as the best offseason acquisition in the MLB.

He was performing at an incredibly high level, thrusting himself into the mix as not only an All-Star, but a National League Cy Young Award candidate.

Acquired from the Miami Marlins in a trade this past winter, Luzardo was making an incredible impact with his new team.

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Through his first 67 innings, Luzardo had 77 strikeouts with an impressive 2.15 ERA and 2.22 FIP. He had a 5-1 record, creating an incredible one-two punch alongside Zack Wheeler atop the rotation.

Unfortunately for the Phillies, his production came to an abrupt halt in his 12th start of the campaign.

Facing off against the Milwaukee Brewers, Luzardo was tagged for 12 earned runs in 3.1 innings, allowing 12 hits, including two home runs while issuing three walks.

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Everyone is susceptible to an off day, and that performance was just chalked up as being a tough day at the office.

However, some alarms began going off when Luzardo was lit up again in his following start against the Toronto Blue Jays.

He surrendered eight more earned runs in 2.1 innings, allowing nine hits, including one home run and two walks.

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How could a player’s performance fall off a cliff so rapidly when none of his underlying statistics were showing signs of regression?

It turns out Luzardo may have been tipping his pitches, allowing base runners who were on second base to relay information to their teammate at the plate about what offering was heading their way.

As shared by The WARmonger on X, Luzardo's numbers with runners on second base prior to the starts against the Brewers and Blue Jays were elite.

He was allowing a .143 batting average and .228 xwOBA with a 34% whiff rate.

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In those two starts, batters went 9-for-10 with a .734 xwOBA, with his whiff rate being cut in more than half to 12.5%.

A video was shared about where Luzardo was placing his hands. When he got hit hard, the glove was left lower and open, easy for the base runner to see what grip he was using.

It must have been noticed eventually, because a change was made for his start against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday afternoon.

The ball was hidden better, whether it be using a bigger glove or Luzardo being more conscious about placement, and the results were more similar to what he provided in the first 11 starts of the year.

He mowed down the most prolific offense in baseball, pitching six strong innings where he struck out 10, allowed only five hits and walked zero. That resulted in one earned run being scored against him.

If he was tipping pitches and found a way to stop doing it, his production is going to be right back to where it was the first two months of the season.

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