Jesús Luzardo finds the stability he craved with his Phillies extension as part of a change atop the rotation

In 10 years since he got drafted as a touted pitcher from a South Florida high school, Jesús Luzardo has been traded three times.

Success on the mound hasn’t equated to career stability.

And so, even though free agency loomed after this season, Luzardo agreed Monday evening to a five-year, $135 million contract extension with the Phillies, a major league source said, confirming an ESPN report. The deal, which is pending a physical, will begin in 2027 and take the 28-year-old lefty through the 2031 season.

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Luzardo, who will make an $11 million salary in 2025 that was agreed upon through arbitration, talked about his desire to set down roots with one team in January when he appeared on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast.

“I just got married [in November], hopefully eventually I’ll have a family,” he said. “Just being stable in a certain place, knowing you’re comfortable in an organization that I had a really good time in — I love the city, I loved where I lived, and the organization as a whole, how they treated my family — it’s something I’d be really interested in.

“But at the end of the day, it’s not entirely in my hands.”

The Phillies’ interest in locking up Luzardo stemmed from his solid 2025 season after being acquired from the Marlins in a trade for two minor leaguers, including teenage shortstop prospect Starlyn Caba.

Luzardo posted a 3.92 ERA last year and achieved career-highs for innings (183⅔) and strikeouts (216). He allowed two earned runs in 7⅔ innings against the Dodgers in the division series, including 1⅔ innings in relief in extra innings of Game 4.

It was a convincing rebound from a 2024 season with the Marlins in which he was limited by a stress reaction in his back. It also made the Phillies more comfortable with lefty Ranger Suárez’s free-agent departure this winter, sources said.

Suárez, 30, is 25 months older than Luzardo and has comparable career numbers despite contrasting styles. A control and command artist, Suárez signed with the Red Sox for five years and $130 million; Luzardo, who dazzles with electric stuff, will receive a similar contract.

And Luzardo won’t have to navigate the uncertainty of being a free agent during a potential work stoppage. The owners are expected to lock out the players when the collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1.

The Phillies have $208 million committed to nine players for next season, almost half of which will go to four starters. Indeed, in reaching a long-term agreement with Luzardo, they continued to invest heavily in their rotation.

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Cristopher Sánchez signed a team-friendly contract that will pay him $18 million through 2028, with $15 million and $16 million club options for 2029 and 2030. But Zack Wheeler will make $42 million in each of the next two seasons, while Aaron Nola is owed nearly $123 million through 2030.

At the other end of the salary scale, top prospect Andrew Painter is expected to break camp with the team and make his major league debut early in the season.

The Phillies expect Wheeler, who turns 36 at the end of May, to make a successful return from thoracic outlet decompression surgery, a procedure in which he had a rib removed to relieve pressure on a vein that was pinched against his collarbone.

But it’s also clear that there’s a changing of the guard atop the rotation, from stalwarts Wheeler and Nola to Sánchez and Luzardo. Painter views Luzardo, in particular, as a mentor. Painter recalls watching Luzardo pitch in high school, and they work out together in the offseason.

“Getting to know him throughout the years, just seeing the way he goes about his business, how he is off the field as a human. I’m just really excited for him,” Luzardo said. “I’m looking forward to helping him along the way with whatever he needs.”

Luzardo took a step forward in his own career last season by learning and incorporating a sweeper, a popular variation of a slider. He uncorked the pitch almost one-third of the time, holding hitters to a .178 average.

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“Throwing a new pitch in there was kind of challenging because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it necessarily,” Luzardo said. “Early in the year, it was really to lefties. Maybe, at times, we used one or two to righties. But as the season went on, I started realizing this is a pitch I can put guys away with, righties and lefties.”

In addition to being a quick study, Luzardo also impressed team officials with his competitiveness on the mound. And he credited the team’s training staff with helping him stay healthy after being dogged by injuries earlier in his career.

Now, he’s a long-term member of the Phillies core.