Is Jesus Luzardo Tipping His Pitches?

After 11 starts, Jesus Luzardo looked like a Cy Young candidate. It only took 2 more starts to ruin those dreams. Before his 5/31 start vs the Brewers, his ERA sat at 2.15. By the end of his 6/5 start vs the Blue Jays, that ballooned to 4.46.

Luzardo gave up more runs, 20, in those 2 starts and 5.2 innings combined, than he gave up in the 11 previous starts. He never gave up more than 3 runs, and never failed to get through at least 5 before that. Then boom, 12 runs allowed to the Brewers, and 8 more against the Blue Jays. He was a different guy out there, and we had never quite seen an implosion like that before now.

So what was up with him? Was it the innings? He has already thrown more innings than he did in all of 2024. Maybe it is just fatigue?

Hall of Fame Baseball writer Jayson Stark has a different theory. He joined The Mike Missanelli Show on Tuesday and told Mike that he thinks Jesus Luzardo is tipping his pitches, specifically his fastball.

Stealing pitches is a hot topic. Not too long ago, the Astros' pitch-stealing scandal shook up the baseball world. But what Stark suggests is different. As he said, tracking pitches is not illegal; in-game communication about it is. But if you just prep players on what to look for before a pitch, it is not only fair game, it is something every team in the league does.

Technology has gotten to the point where figuring this stuff out is easy. If you tip your pitches, even slightly, teams will know. And if professional hitters know a fastball is coming, they are going to hit it.

The good news is that of all the issues Luzardo could have, this is the easiest to fix. If the Phillies know he is tipping pitches, and they know how he is tipping them, they can fix that. It won't erase the last 2 games. Luzardo will be battling to get out of the hole he put himself in the rest of the year. He can kiss his Cy Young dreams goodbye this year. But going forward, things should be better.

We will find out later today if that is the case. Jesus Luzardo faces the Cubs, one of the best lineups in baseball, today at 1:05. You are not going to sneak a fastball by Kyle Tucker if he knows it is coming. So if Luzardo was tipping his pitches, they better have figured it out by now, or it could be another ugly day.