First Jesús Luzardo, then Landon Dickerson, and now Dan Vladař: Strike 1, 2, 3 for the Phillies, Eagles, and Flyers?

They say bad luck runs in threes. If you’re superstitious, maybe you think Philadelphia is finished with its streak of misfortune.

Strike One: On Sept. 11, the Phillies announced that All-Star lefty Jesús Luzardo had a sore shoulder. He landed on the injured list four days later.

Strike Two: On Sept. 14, the Eagles placed three-time Pro Bowl left guard Landon Dickerson on injured reserve with a bone bruise to his twice-repaired right knee.

» READ MORE: Flyers goalie Dan Vladař leaves preseason debut with an upper-body injury

Strike Three: In a preseason game Tuesday night, Dan Vladař, the Flyers’ goalie and linchpin, left after absorbing a glancing blow from Bruins forward Tanner Jeannot.

Vladař appeared to take a skate to the back of his right arm, which he also appeared to injure last spring. He was uninterested in retrieving his stick and the Bruins scored. After that, Vladař got his stick back, but he could not manipulate it. Before play resumed, he skated off the ice, bent over in pain.

Did the Flyers’ hopes of relevance skate off with him?

The Flyers have offered no update. Maybe they were shell-shocked. They have every right to be shell-shocked.

After the last 11 days, so do Philly sports fans.

You could argue that losing Vladař is not catastrophic, especially if his absence is brief. The season doesn’t start for a week. The Flyers upgraded their goalie stable in June when they shed Sam Ersson and traded for Joseph Woll, and the rest of the team is pretty good.

This is short-sighted.

Vladař was the team MVP last year. At the age of 28, and in his first chance as a full-time starter after four full seasons in the NHL, Vladař, despite being a goalie, was the de facto captain of the team last year. He was its spirit and its soul. He led a team with no power play and a bunch of skittish kids through a wild stretch run, into an unlikely playoff berth, and past the rival Penguins in the franchise’s first series win since 2020.

He might not have been the best Flyer — that was probably defenseman Travis Sanheim if it wasn’t leading scorer Travis Konecny — but he certainly was the most valuable.

Vladař’s absence will be felt more than Dickerson’s, or even Luzardo’s.

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After he dealt his first complete-game shutout Sept. 7, “Zeus” had, against all odds, earned the undisputed right to be the Game 1 pitcher in the Phillies’ expected postseason run. This, in a year in which Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez both should get Cy Young Award votes (as should Luzardo).

The ability to sandwich Wheeler — perhaps the best pitcher in Phillies history, when you include playoff effectiveness — between two elite left-handers is the sort of advantage managers dream of. What’s more, the Braves’ trio of Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson, and Ozzie Albies are a combined 15-for-73 against Luzardo all time, with 19 strikeouts and only six walks.

Luzardo is able to come off the IL on Saturday, and he threw on flat ground for the first time Monday and Tuesday with no immediate ill effects. But a gentle game of catch is wildly different from throwing an adrenalized 97 mph 70 times, off a mound, in a playoff game. If the Phillies use Luzardo at all, it probably won’t be until the end of the NLDS, if they get that far.

Going left-right-left with their starters was the Phillies’ only real hope to beat the likes of the Dodgers, Brewers, or Braves, the latter their most likely opponent as things stand. And while Aaron Nola’s last 10 starts have been encouraging, Acuña (1.037 OPS) and Olson (1.075 OPS) own him.

The Phillies’ bullpen lacks a dependable piece outside of closer Jhoan Duran. The lineup is maddeningly inconsistent, and one-third of it is utterly undependable: the No. 2 spot, with Trea Turner; No. 7, with Brandon Marsh; and No. 8, with J.T. Realmuto.

The defense stinks. There is little real speed.

The strength was left-right-left. Oh, well.

» READ MORE: With Jesús Luzardo out, Phillies hitters need to start earning their millions

In 2024, when Saquon Barkley won Offensive Player of the Year with 2,005 rushing yards, more than half of his runs went to the left side, where he averaged 4.0 yards before first contact from a defender. Not coincidentally, Dickerson enjoyed his best season in 2024 according to Pro Football Focus, which, nonetheless, criminally under-graded him, but that’s a different discussion.

The discussion here is: If Dickerson isn’t healthy, then the Eagles’ run game simply won’t work. Not like it did in 2024, when the run game was the chief factor on their path to winning Super Bowl LIX.

It’s only been two games but the Birds are having lots of trouble running the ball. If you subtract Jalen Hurts’ rushing totals, most of which have come on scrambles, they’re averaging 81.5 rushing yards per game. In 2024 they averaged 179.3 rushing yards. In 2025, their rushing average fell by 62.4 yards.

Why? Partly because of injuries all along the line, including the seven-game absence of right tackle Lane Johnson. That was not the entire reason.

In 2025, Dickerson fought through pain in his surgically repaired knees and ankles that was so bad he got stem-cell injections in all four joints in March. He played so badly that sources say he contemplated retirement (which he now denies).

This season, after Dickerson limped through Game 1 with the bone bruise, Cam Jurgens replaced Dickerson at guard in Game 2. Jurgens was, somehow, even worse in Week 2 than Dickerson was in Week 1. To be fair, Jurgens is a former Pro Bowl center with some experience at guard — but at right guard. Jurgens moved from center to guard last game. Fifth-round pick Drew Kendall, in his second year, started at center. It was a mess.

An underlying effect here concerns the play of left tackle Jordan Mailata. He was the best offensive lineman in football in 2024, when, perhaps not coincidentally, Dickerson had his best season playing next to him. Mailata was still very good, though appreciably worse in 2025. So far, he’s playing even worse in 2026.

Does this mean Dickerson made Maliata? Or vice versa? No: It means that the pair of them together is far greater than the sum of the parts.

That pair doesn’t seem likely to reunite any time soon.

Watching Vladař leave Tuesday’s game, he seems like a long-term loss, too.

At least the luxury of time provides hope in both of those situations.

For the Phillies and Zeus, time just might run out.