Philly’s New Game Changer: Recent Acquistion Named Top X-Factor for the Phillies
With spring training coming to a close, the Philadelphia Phillies are shaping up to be one of the top teams in the National League again.
Even though it was a frustrating end to the campaign for the Phillies last year, this is one of the most talented rosters in the league and should be poised to bounce back in 2025.
With the core still intact for Philadelphia, they will be trying to maximize what they can out of this window of opportunity.
Rather than shaking things up this winter, the Phillies instead made additions around their core.
There were a couple of needs for the team to address this winter, with improving the back-end of the rotation being one of the most pressing.
Despite having a former All-Star in Taijuan Walker as their fifth starter last year, he ended up being one of the worst starting pitchers in baseball last year. This resulted in a massive need in the rotation this offseason, and that was addressed in a significant way.
Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently spoke about the biggest X-factor for the Phillies being their newly acquired left-hander, Jesus Luzardo.
“The Phillies’ trade for Luzardo was perhaps the most overlooked move of the winter. He has top-of-the-rotation upside when he’s healthy, so it’s saying something that the Phillies figure to use him as a No. 5 starter.”
When looking at the starting rotations in the National League, Philadelphia has the potential to be one of the best in the entire league after the addition of Luzardo.
Even though the talented left-hander struggled in 2024, he had his breakout campaign in 2023 and showed off his upside as a starting pitcher.
In 2023, the southpaw totaled a 10-10 record, a 3.58 ERA, and struck out 208 batters. The strong year proved that Luzardo can be a front-end caliber starter in the league and that is a scary thought considering he is penciled in as the number five starter.
Even though Philadelphia didn’t need to add a pitcher the caliber of Luzardo to be the fifth starter, this was a move that was to help improve a strength of a team in 2025, and could help them long-term as well.
While it might be strange to consider a fifth starter as a X-factor for a team, Luzardo’s high-end upside could result in him being a top-end pitcher for the Phillies in 2025.
Considering the talent ahead of him in the rotation with guys like Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Christopher Sanchez, adding a pitcher who might be able to help compliment them can be a valuable weapon for the Phillies.
