Fresh off contract extension, Jesús Luzardo works on fine-tuning his pitches in Clearwater

CLEARWATER, Fla. — It’s been a whirlwind few days for Jesús Luzardo.

The lefty agreed to a five-year extension with the Phillies on Monday, hosted friends and family at a news conference announcing the deal on Tuesday, and then was back to work on the mound on Thursday.

“The last week has been kind of crazy. Especially starting on Sunday, with some travel and some late nights,” he said. “So hopefully excited to get back on the routine and back on schedule.”

In Luzardo’s second Grapefruit League start of the spring, he was focused on moving his fastball around and trying out different pitches in different counts. He hopes to use his sinker, which he threw only 10.8% of the time in 2025, more often this season.

He threw 67 pitches over 3⅔ innings in an 8-5 Phillies win over Toronto that was called in the bottom of the eighth because of rain. Luzardo allowed three runs on five hits, including a solo home run by Tyler Heineman off his four-seam fastball.

He threw 13 changeups, another pitch he has been working on this spring. Hitters chased on the pitch 30% of the time, but he got only two whiffs on five total swings.

“It felt really good,” Luzardo said. “Throwing it for a good amount of chase. Today, maybe was looking for a little more swing and miss late in counts. But [it was] getting guys off balance, which is important.”

Luzardo is on Venezuela’s reserve list for the World Baseball Classic and is eligible to join the team in the knockout rounds. However, he doesn’t know if the schedules would work out for him to participate, assuming the team continues to progress. Venezuela is set to face reigning champion Japan on Saturday in the quarterfinals.

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“I wish I could be there with them. It’s going to be a little tough,” he said. “Obviously, first and foremost, with the Phillies, got to see what they want me to do and how they want me to ramp up. But I’m following closely. I’m watching every game, so I’m rooting for them as well.”

He also tuned in for Aaron Nola’s performance for Italy on Wednesday, in which he delivered five scoreless innings to help Italy win its group — and also ensured that the U.S. advanced, too.

“Vintage Nola, just going out there, slow heart rate and just doing it,” Luzardo said. “I mean, pitching well. Looks amazing. I thought all his pitches looked great. So we’re excited to get him back and pitching on our side, too.”

Alec Bohm homered in the third inning. He has a .333 batting average and a .919 OPS in eight spring training games.

Trea Turner hit two doubles. Bryson Stott drew a walk and stole a base, and Justin Crawford finished 2-for-3.

Rafael Marchán, who was catching with J.T. Realmuto sick on Thursday, finished 3-for-4 on automated ball-strike challenges behind the plate. He also singled and caught a runner stealing second.

Chase Shugart, Zach Pop, Génesis Cabrera, and Jonathan Hernández split the job in relief.

Shugart allowed two runs on two hits and a walk. Pop sidestepped a single for a scoreless inning, and Cabrera faced the minimum in the seventh. Hernández gave up two singles but was helped out by an outfield assist from right fielder Dylan Campbell, who threw out a Blue Jay at the plate to end the inning.

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“He’s having great at-bats,” manager Rob Thomson said of Bohm. “Him and Stott have been very consistent all the way through. It’s good to see Trea get a couple base hits to right-center today. I thought our at-bats were really good.”

The Phillies host the Orioles on Friday with Andrew Painter scheduled to start (1:05 p.m., NBCSP+).

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The Phillies trimmed down the camp roster before the game, reassigning six players to minor league camp. Among them is infielder Aidan Miller, who has been sidelined for a few weeks with a lingering back issue. Thomson said that the idea was to get Miller more one-on-one time at the minor league complex. He is still unable to do baseball activities other than throwing, but he is running and lifting.

Also reassigned were right-handed pitchers Andrew Bechtold and Michael Mercado and catchers Kehden Hettiger, Mark Kolozsvary, and Caleb Ricketts.

Orion Kerkering and Zack Wheeler are scheduled to throw live batting practice sessions on Saturday. For Wheeler, it will be his first time facing hitters in his rehab process from thoracic outlet decompression surgery in September. Thomson said Kerkering (hamstring strain) “possibly” could be ready for opening day. ... Garrett Stubbs and Max Lazar (Israel) and Edmundo Sosa (Panama) were back in Clearwater after their teams were eliminated from the WBC. Taijuan Walker (Mexico) also is set to return this week.