Jesús Luzardo feels good after bullpen session, ‘chances are good’ he will return for the playoffs

Don Mattingly tried to downplay it at first, but even he was unable to hold the poker face.

“I mean,” he said, “it was a regular bullpen.”

Everyone knew there wasn’t anything “regular” about the 30-ish pitches that Jesús Luzardo threw in the Phillies’ bullpen Thursday, the first time he pitched from a mound in 13 days because of inflammation in his left shoulder.

And it couldn’t have gone much better.

» READ MORE: The Zack Wheeler conversation: Why he expected to thrive after surgery, and how much longer he wants to play

Luzardo wasn’t about to make any declarations, noting that Friday is “a big day to see how I bounce back.” But all signs point to the All-Star lefty being ready to pitch in the postseason, with the Phillies on the precipice of locking up a National League wild card.

“I feel really good, healthy,” Luzardo said. “Everything keeps trending in the right direction, so I think the chances are good.”

Barring a setback, Luzardo is expected to face hitters, likely in a simulated game setting, over the weekend. He’s eligible to come off the injured list Sunday before the regular-season finale.

It’s unclear whether Luzardo will be ready to start a game in the best-of-three wild-card series. He hasn’t appeared in a game since a 109-pitch shutout of the Braves on Sept. 7. But the Phillies are hopeful that he will at least be able to come out of the bullpen.

“Whatever role they need me at,” Luzardo said. “If they need me [for] one inning, two innings out of the bullpen, three innings, I could start, I could be the bat boy. Whatever they ask of me, I’ll do. I just want to win, so it doesn’t matter.”

Just having Luzardo available at all would be a relief.

“I think it’s realistic,” Mattingly said. “If everything keeps going good, yes.”

The Phillies’ strength is their trio of ace starters: Zack Wheeler and lefties Cristopher Sánchez and Luzardo. The team is 63-25 in their starts, including 21-8 with Luzardo on the mound.

Luzardo has been among the best pitchers in the sport for five months. Only the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski, favored to win the Cy Young Award, has a better ERA than Luzardo’s 1.93 mark since May 11.

Overall, Luzardo has a 2.87 ERA and 221 strikeouts in 178⅔ innings.

» READ MORE: Winning a World Series ‘changes everything.’ And the Phillies legacies for this veteran core are riding on it.

But Luzardo was unable to get loose during a bullpen session Sept. 11 in Atlanta, and the Phillies scratched him from a start the following night. He was hopeful of playing catch Sept. 15 in Washington but instead went on the injured list. It wasn’t until last Sunday that he resumed throwing.

Even Luzardo wasn’t sure he would progress so rapidly.

“I feel like I’m a pretty optimistic thinker, so I think this was the plan in my head,” he said, crediting physical therapist Alex Plum, strength coach Morgan Gregory, and the athletic training staff. “Obviously, injuries are hard to really tell where they’re going to go and how your body’s going to react. But I was pretty optimistic the whole way, and I was hoping that it would go as it is now.”

Mattingly doesn’t typically oversee bullpen sessions. But he stood alongside pitching coach Caleb Cotham to observe Luzardo, who threw every pitch in his repertoire in the bullpen with his normal intensity.

“I don’t think he was out there just like tossing the ball trying to get it to the plate,” Mattingly said. “The strikes felt good. He’s feeling good. He wasn’t shaking his shoulder during the bullpen or anything like that, so all signs are going in the right direction.”

Said Luzardo: “I was letting it go like a normal bullpen, kind of treating it as if we were ramping up for a normal start. It was coming out well, nice and easy, and I definitely wasn’t soft-tossing it up there. There was some intent behind it.”

Wheeler and Sánchez, in some order, are expected to start Game 1 and 2 of the wild-card series. Aaron Nola would be lined up for Game 3. Luzardo could continue to build stamina during the wild-card round while aiding a bullpen that lacks dependable setup options for closer Jhoan Duran.

“I already had 180 innings and built up to 100 pitches a lot of times this year,” Luzardo said. “I think it was six days off from throwing. So, I don’t think it creates that much rest.

“Definitely the last two weeks have been pretty stressful. I want to compete and be there for the guys, so it was frustrating at times. But definitely a relief just feeling good.”

Setup reliever Jonathan Bowlan (groin) played catch after a light bullpen session Wednesday. Bowlan hasn’t appeared in a game since Sept. 17, but Mattingly said he would be comfortable using the big righty in a postseason game even if he doesn’t pitch over the weekend. ... Double-A shortstop Bryan Rincon, who received the Phillies’ Paul Owens Award as the top position player in the farm system, credited major-league hitting coach Kevin Long for “a couple of tips” in spring training. Rincon finished with 26 homers and 30 steals and led Reading to the Eastern League championship. ... Sánchez (18-6, 2.93 ERA) is lined up to start at 6:40 p.m. Friday against Rays righty Freddy Peralta (9-11, 4.56).

Watch the latest episode

Let's talk about the Phillies' bullpen. Larry Andersen happens to be an expert on the subject. The popular Phillies radio analyst had a 17-year major-league career in which he appeared in 699 games – all but one in relief. He joins Phillies Extra to break down the biggest question standing between the Phillies and a long run through October: How will they bridge the gap to closer Jhoan Duran? Watch here. 

You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Previous episodes: Matt Klentak | Jeff Francoeur | Luke Murton | Mike Hazen | Tony Gwynn Jr. | Kevin Stocker | Bobby Dickerson | Jim Bowden | John Middleton | Ryan Howard