CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Phillies pushed hard to get Garrett Crochet from the White Sox last summer.
They offered the Sox at least two top prospects, including Aidan Miller and Justin Crawford, as The Athletic reported. The Phils made such an aggressive offer that some wondered if they might be giving up too much. But any feelings of pre-buyer¡¯s remorse didn¡¯t last long, because the White Sox said no.
Chicago traded Crochet to Boston in December. A couple weeks later, Philadelphia got Jesús Luzardo from Miami for prospects Starlyn Caba and Emaarion Boyd.
Luzardo and Crochet started Friday afternoon¡¯s Grapefruit League game between the Phillies and Red Sox at BayCare Ballpark. Luzardo looked like the pitcher Philadelphia hopes he will be, retiring the only six batters he faced in two scoreless innings in the Phils' 7-5 victory. It had teammates dreaming about a season with Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Su¨¢rez, Cristopher S¨¢nchez and Luzardo in the same rotation.
¡°I feel like we have a No. 1 and maybe four No. 2s,¡± Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto said.
Luzardo¡¯s fastball touched 97.7 mph on Friday. His four-seam and two-seam fastballs averaged 96.7 mph.
His fastball velocity dropped to 95.1 mph last year, when he missed most of the season with Miami because of an injured back. But Friday¡¯s velocity matched the 96.7 mph he averaged in 2023, when he went 10-10 with a 3.58 ERA in 32 starts.
¡°My arm just feels alive again,¡± Luzardo said.
¡°Electric stuff,¡± Realmuto said. ¡°I¡¯ve had to try to hit him for five, six years now. Finally getting to catch him and work with him on the other side was certainly fun. I kind of saw who he is today. He pounds the strike zone, really attacks the hitters and gets a lot of weak contact. He¡¯s going to be fun to work with.¡±
Luzardo struck out two batters swinging on changeups. He threw his bread-and-butter slider, but he also introduced a more sweeper-ish slider with horizontal break.
It might be a new weapon.
¡°We¡¯re exploring other avenues of getting guys out,¡± Luzardo said. ¡°It¡¯s still a work in progress. It¡¯s not a confirmed pitch. Just giving it a shot and seeing how it looks. It felt good. It¡¯s repetition. You¡¯ve got to get more feel for it, but it did feel good. We got positive results out of it, so just looking forward to building on that.¡±
Friday¡¯s line scores will not predict the future, of course, but it will be fun to see how Luzardo and Crochet -- who allowed one hit, struck out three and walked three in 1 2/3 scoreless innings -- pitch over the next couple years, just like it will be fun to see how Miller, Crawford, Caba and Boyd develop.
Sometimes the best trades are the ones that never happen.
¡°First outing against another team since June 16 last year,¡± Luzardo said, referring to his back injury. ¡°I just wanted to come out, throw good, healthy, and thankfully that¡¯s what it was. It felt really good. Everything was working.¡±
It did not surprise him.
¡°I was pretty confident,¡± Luzardo said. ¡°Usually, I have a little bit of anxiety before every start. This was more excitement.
¡°I like to come into camp ready to go. And with the lack of throwing last year, I just made sure I was ready to go when I came into camp this year. Trying to keep the workload, obviously, in check. It¡¯s going to be a long year. Just wanted to make sure everything felt good every time I¡¯m out there.¡±
Luzardo threw a career-high 178 2/3 innings in 2023. He threw 66 2/3 innings last year. The Phillies could manage Luzardo¡¯s workload by monitoring his innings and pitch counts. They could promote pitching prospect Andrew Painter this summer to form a six-man rotation, which could help.
Or perhaps they decide Luzardo is fine, and he makes 30-plus starts.
¡°We haven¡¯t had any conversations like that,¡± Luzardo said. ¡°Those conversations might happen. But I fully plan on having a full year and a fully healthy year and getting back to what I did in 2023. ¡ It definitely feels like I¡¯m back and healthy. It¡¯s not forced. I¡¯m not overexerting myself. It¡¯s just more free and easy and working down the mound.¡±
Phillies manager Rob Thomson saw it Friday.
¡°He¡¯s kind of quiet, unassuming,¡± Thomson said. ¡°But when he gets on the mound, he gets after it.¡±