Jesus Luzardo of the Miami Marlins pitches. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
There haven’t been many bright spots for the Miami Marlins, who are an MLB-worst 14-32 this season.
But Jesus Luzardo turned in a pair of good starts this week and appears to be regaining form after a mediocre start to the season, earning World Baseball Network’s International MLB Player of the Week honors for May 11-17.
Last Saturday, Luzardo allowed two runs on four hits over 5.2 innings in the Marlins’ 8-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at loanDepot Park, walking one and striking out eight. On Friday, Luzardo scattered five hits over six innings, walking none and striking out seven as the Marlins blanked the New York Mets at home 8-0.
It was a rocky start for Luzardo, who started the year by going five innings against Pittsburgh on March 28, allowing two runs on two hits, earning a no-decision. His ERA ballooned to 7.65 over his next three starts, which included an April 8 start that saw the New York Yankees tag him for seven runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings as the Marlins were drubbed 8-0 in New York. Six days later, the Braves chopped Luzardo for five runs on seven hits over five innings in a 9-7 loss at loanDepot Park.
Now in his sixth season in the Major Leagues and fourth with Miami, Luzardo played for the Oakland Athletics from 2018-21 before being traded to the Marlins for Starling Marte. He has a career ERA of 4.25 over 483 innings in 100 appearances with Oakland and Miami. He turned in the best season of his career in 2023, going 10-10 with a 3.58 ERA for Miami in 32 starts, posting an ERA+ of 128 and an FIP of 3.55.
Luzardo was born in Lima, Peru, and is the first Peruvian-born player to appear in Major League Baseball, though he grew up in the Miami area. He represented Venezuela at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, allowing no runs on four hits in four innings, earning the win in the Vino Tinto’s 5-1 victory against Israel.
He was selected in the third round of the 2016 MLB draft by the Washington Nationals out of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. He was preparing for his second professional season and intended to work out at the school on Feb. 14, 2018, the day a former student killed 17 people and wounded 17 others in the deadliest mass shooting at a U.S. high school to date.
In response, Luzardo started a scholarship fund in honor of the school’s athletic director, Chris Hixon, who was killed in the shooting. The pitcher told MiLB.com that Hixon “played a huge role in supporting my dreams of becoming a professional baseball player and his loss will be felt by everyone in the Douglas community.”
