PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Jes\u00fas Luzardo knew the hook was coming long before he strode off the mound with the bases full Wednesday night, the kind of night every starting pitcher occasionally endures but never wants.<\/p>\n
The Cubs roughed up the Phillies\u2019 left-hander for nine runs \u2014 eight earned \u2014 on 12 hits over 5 2\/3 innings in an 11-2 loss that sealed the three-game series for Chicago.<\/p>\n
It was Luzardo\u2019s roughest outing of the young season and another bump in an uneven opening stretch. Through four starts, he has been tagged for five or more runs three times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just didn\u2019t execute,\u201d Luzardo said. \u201cWhen you fall behind and leave pitches in the middle of the plate against a lineup like that, they\u2019re going to make you pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since signing a five-year, $135 million extension last month, Luzardo is 1-3 with a 7.94 ERA and a dreary 1.46 WHIP in 22 2\/3 frames. He does have 30 strikeouts.<\/p>\n
Manager Rob Thomson insisted that a difficult night doesn\u2019t change how the Phillies view the 28-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s going to have some bad outings,\u201d Thomson said. \u201cThat happens. The stuff is still there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cubs repeatedly attacked Luzardo early in counts and kept the pressure on, stringing together rallies that forced him to work through jams in nearly every frame, pushing his pitch count up to 98 earlier than Luzardo and the Phillies desired.<\/p>\n
For Luzardo, the frustrating part wasn\u2019t just the contact \u2014 it was the rhythm.<\/p>\n
![\"Jesus](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/TMC-L-Jesusloses-1.jpg\")
Jesus Luzardo reacts during the third inning against the Cubs at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday in Philadelphia. The Phillies lost 11-2, with the Cubs scoring three runs in the third to start their big night. (Photo by Isaiah Vazquez\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\u201cJust couldn\u2019t get into a groove,\u201d he said. \u201cFelt like every inning there was traffic. When that happens against a lineup like that, it can snowball.\u201d<\/p>\n
The loss left the Phillies still searching for consistency in a season that has begun with more turbulence than expected. They entered the series finale against Chicago hovering around .500 and trying to steady both the offense and the rotation.<\/p>\n
Luzardo has been central to that effort.<\/p>\n
The Phillies acquired the power left-hander to deepen a rotation built to contend. When he\u2019s right, his fastball-changeup mix can overwhelm hitters. When he\u2019s wrong, things tend to go sideways quickly.<\/p>\n
Thomson felt the issue Wednesday was more about location than stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stuff is still there,\u201d Thomson said. \u201cHe just has to get ahead in counts and locate a little better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luzardo\u2019s role remains particularly important while the Phillies wait for Zack Wheeler to return.<\/p>\n
The right-handed Wheeler, recovering from thoracic outlet surgery, is currently on a rehab assignment and is expected to make another minor-league start Sunday for the Reading Fightin Phils before potentially rejoining the rotation later this month during the Phillies\u2019 road trip to Atlanta.<\/p>\n
Until then, the club is relying on the rest of the staff to hold things together.<\/p>\n
Southpaw Cristopher S\u00e1nchez (2-1, 2.01 ERA) \u2014 who has steadily risen through the ranks as an emerging ace and recently had his contract increased by the Phillies \u2014 has largely kept the team in games. But the 29-year-old hasn\u2019t looked fully on-point yet this April.<\/p>\n
His sinker and world-class changeup are still generating ground balls, but his command has wavered from start to start, and he seems to have sensitivity on his landing foot as he finishes his delivery.<\/p>\n
The rest of the rotation, including Aaron Nola and Luzardo, has also searched for consistency through the first few weeks. It makes nights like Wednesday sting a little more.<\/p>\n
Luzardo is a key piece of the puzzle. The Phillies don\u2019t just need innings from him; they need the version they envisioned when acquired him in 2024\u2014 a power left-hander capable of dominating stretches of the season.<\/p>\n
Luzardo believes that version is still there, and he refuses to get hung up on a bad outing or two.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou flush it,\u201d he said. \u201cYou learn from it and move on. It\u2019s a long season.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X and Threads at @the_defranc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Jes\u00fas Luzardo knew the hook was coming long before he strode off the mound with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676917,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,138,24,4245,161,4,25,185,4802],"class_list":{"0":"post-676916","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-cubs","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-chicagocubs","12":"tag-cubs","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-philadelphia-phillies","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-top-stories-tmc"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116414513514234527","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}