It keeps happening and it's getting to a point where you have to wonder what is going on. First, it was Sandy Alcantara, then Eury Perez, Braxton Garrett, A.J. Puk and now Jesus Luzardo as well. What is going on here?! This is no longer just bad luck, it's turning into an epidemic of injuries.
Jesus Luzardo is the latest injured Miami Marlins starting pitcher.
When the Miami Marlins lost Sandy Alcantara for the season it was pretty catastrophic. Losing the 2022 NL Cy Young award winner for the season was certainly not going to help in returning to the playoffs. Eury Perez, the team's future ace is out for the season too. Both pitchers underwent Tommy John Surgery by the way.
A.J. Puk is still on the IL for shoulder fatigue, though that was because he was needlessly moved from the rotation to the bullpen. Luckily he's now going back to the bullpen. Did I mention that Braxton Garrett is still recovering from his issues? This is honestly insane at this point. Injuries haven't stopped yet...
Have you been wondering why Jesus Luzardo hasn't been as effective this season? That question has now finally been answered. The starting pitcher was great last season, producing a 3.58 ERA/3.55 FIP, with 10.5 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9, in 32 games and 178.2 innings pitched. This season however, he has a 6.58 ERA/5.07 FIP, with 9.3 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9, in 5 games and 26.0 innings pitched.
It was surprising how he was so unusually poor this season. It turns out that could've been due to his elbow discomfort. I'm not going to speculate on what this could be. It could be anything from a serious injury, to a hopefully minor issue. We'll know about this in the (once again hopefully) near future. For now however, he's been removed from his start tonight against the Washington Nationals.
Anthony Maldonado is going to take the mound against Washington tonight instead. We'll be cautiously waiting for more information on whether or not Jesus Luzardo will be out for a long time.