Is a Meltdown Brewing on the Mound?

Only a number of days faraway from being burned on the worst begin of his MLB profession, Philadelphia Phillies southpaw Jesus Luzardo took the mound Thursday versus the Toronto Blue Jays with redemption on the road.

Instead, he produced one other regarding outing that jeopardizes his rotation spot and what has gone awry in consecutive begins.

From Ace to Alarming: Luzardo’s Sharp Decline

Until not too long ago, Luzardo had been probably the most constant of the Phillies’ starters. Posting a sub-3.00 ERA via his first 11 begins and with pinpoint management, the 26-year-old gave the impression to be a frontline starter who can be a mainstay of Philadelphia’s playoff run.

All that got here crashing down on May 31 when the Milwaukee Brewers torched him for 12 earned runs in solely 3.1 innings. Some wrote it off as a fluke, an off-day, maybe—a risk Luzardo himself tried to brush apart, even debuting a brand new haircut within the hopes of refocusing mentally. But on June 6, these worries had been amplified as Luzardo surrendered eight earned runs in simply 2.1 innings in opposition to a ferocious Blue Jays offense.

Shocking Stats: A Tale of Two Seasons

The stats inform a worrying story.

• First 11 Starts: 67 IP, 16 ER
• Last 2 Starts: 5.2 IP, 20 ER

That’s a precipitous swing that has had Philadelphia scrambling for explanations.

Velocity Is Intact, But Command Is Missing

Interestingly, Luzardo’s velocity has remained fixed. According to Sports Illustrated, each his four-seamer and sinker are posting the identical velocities they averaged throughout his dominant early-season run. That implies there isn’t any hidden arm fatigue or damage, a minimum of none affecting his energy.

Rather, the issue appears to be the command and pitch location. Luzardo is routinely serving up pitches over the center of the plate, and MLB hitters, notably good lineups like Toronto’s, do not miss out on errors like that.

What’s Going Wrong? Mechanics, Tipping, or Something More?

With no drop in velocity, the Phillies are in all probability investigating different culprits: mechanical failures, potential tipping of pitches, and even psychological exhaustion.

Luzardo’s battle to regulate in-game and get out of early jams lends further credence to the notion that one thing inside, a mechanical challenge or a psychological one, is amiss.

Nevertheless, the hope is that these are fixable issues, not indicators of an underlying challenge like an damage or long-term regression.

Can the Phillies Afford a Struggling Luzardo?

The Phillies relied upon Luzardo to be a stabilizing component, notably with Aaron Nola‘s inconsistency. For many of the season, Luzardo did that. Now, although, the Phillies may need to rethink his position within the rotation, or a minimum of permit him time to regulate away from the limelight.