Trade interest in injured Miami Marlins starting pitcher

The Miami Marlins have a lot of injured starting pitchers, one of them is still out, the other just came back. The one out specifically is Jesus Luzardo. The one who just came back is of course Edward Cabrera. This article is not about Cabrera however, it's about Luzardo. We now have some interesting reports to digest. What's going to happen now? Is he going to be traded?

Miami Marlins SP Jesus Luzardo may still be traded

It was assumed for a while as the season started going downhill, that the Miami Marlins would trade Jesus Luzardo at the Trade Deadline. Once he went on the injured list however, it was assumed that he probably would no longer be traded this Summer. With his history of injuries and lack of success this season, it seemed that teams would be wary of trading for him. More importantly, they probably wouldn't pay an acceptable price.

The Fish almost certainly would want Luzardo to be valued as the starting pitcher, who delivered a 3.48 ERA/3.40 FIP, with 10.6 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9, in 50 games and 279.0 innings pitched over the 2022 and 2023 seasons. That's a top of the rotation arm, who can be a #2 on a contending team with a god rotation, or even a #1 on a contending team with a thinner rotation.

Jesus Luzardo this season however, has a disappointing 5.00 ERA/4.27 FIP, with 7.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 12 games and 66.2 innings pitched. It was likely due to injury, but the ERA is bloated, the FIP is not that of an ace and the strikeout rate went downhill. Luzardo's fastball velocity has indeed declined from 96.8 mph last season to 95.5 mph this season.

I hope that any of Luzardo's issues are due to injury this season, and that once he's healthy he'll be back to last season's form. That said, it might not be the take that other teams will have. They don't know how he will actually do. The report states that teams are calling Peter Bendix about him, but it's almost certain that tehy're looking for a discount. I don't see that happening. When or if the Miami Marlins finally trade Jesus Luzardo, he has to be valued as the pitcher from 2022-2023.