The Philadelphia Phillies are taking some risks this offseason.
Now knowing there are more holes on the roster than originally thought, the front office has decided to not make sweeping changes to this group.
While much of that has to do with the financial situation they’re in, there’s no doubt the current Phillies players are more than good enough to win a World Series if everything goes their way.
But, with clear needs this winter, Dave Dombrowski decided to bring some high upside players into the mix who can all be impact players if they perform at their peak.
The one who is the headliner is Jesus Luzardo.
Acquired in a trade that shipped out Philadelphia’s No. 4 prospect to the Miami Marlins, the left-hander is being brought in to bolster this starting rotation and make it the best unit in the league.
For that to happen, he needs to stay healthy.
The Phillies are comfortable with his medical history despite him having a forearm strain and elbow tightness in his throwing arm before suffering a lumbar stress reaction in his back this past season.
Those things are enough to warrant concern when on their own, but since all three have happened in the past three years, there is a huge risk that comes with this move.
However, Luzardo is trying to put to bed some of the worries surrounding his health.
“I feel 100%, I’ve felt 100% the whole offseason. Last year, the back was really the root of the issue and the problem. Now that we’ve got that figured out, thankfully everything is back to normal … I took time off and the doctors all said the same thing: These things actually heal really well, and once it happens once, it usually doesn’t happen again. It’s more of just letting it calm down, letting it heal itself,” he said per Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
If that’s the case, then Philadelphia could get two years of an ace-level pitcher who is going to be slotted into their No. 3 position at best behind Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola.
This is exactly what Dombrowski and the front office envisioned when they pivoted to a run prevention approach once it was clear that major lineup upgrades might not take place.
Luzardo sandwiched the arm issues and back injury with a 2023 campaign that saw him post a 3.58 ERA across his 32 starts and 178.2 innings pitched, striking out 208 batters and producing an ERA+ of 131.
Getting that version in 2025 would give the Phillies a great chance to win the World Series.
