If you asked Philadelphia Phillies fans before the start of the 2025 MLB regular season which starting pitcher would be in contention for the NL Cy Young Award, the overwhelming answer would be Zack Wheeler.

Wheeler has finished second in the NL Cy Young Award voting twice in his Phillies tenure, including last season. The 34-year-old starting pitcher is off to another fantastic start for the Phillies (5-1, 2.67) through 10 starts and is considered one of the contenders for the award this year.

However, another Phillies starting pitcher is having a career year on the mound and should not be forgotten about in the Cy Young Award discussion. That guy is Jesús Luzardo.

The Phillies acquired Luzardo and catcher Paul McIntosh this offseason in a trade from the Miami Marlins involving minor league prospects Starlyn Caba and Emaarion Boyd. The trade caught Phillies fans off guard, considering the depth and talent they already had in the starting rotation.

That said, adding a 27-year-old southpaw, who showed flashes of brilliance with the Marlins, wasn’t a bad gamble by the Phillies.

Through 10 starts this season, Luzardo has a pristine 5-0 record and 1.95 ERA. The only starting pitchers in the National League with a better ERA than Luzardo are Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1.86) of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kodai Senga (1.43) of the New York Mets.

However, if you look at the most recent betting odds, Yamamoto has the second-best odds (+310 on FanDuel) to win the NL Cy Young. Meanwhile, Senga is considered a longshot at 35/1 (+3500).

Meanwhile, Luzardo is sitting at +1600, which is a notable change from almost a month ago when his Cy Young odds were +3160 on April 24, per Sports Betting Dime.

The southpaw is coming off a strong outing against the lowly Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night. Luzardo allowed three walks, two hits, and an earned run while recording 10 strikeouts in six innings. It was the veteran’s second start with 10 or more strikeouts and his fifth start throwing six or more innings this season.

 

For the season, the left-handed starter has only allowed 51 hits, 18 walks, and 13 earned runs (two home runs) while racking up 67 strikeouts in 60 innings. Luzardo’s 67 strikeouts are ranked sixth in the National League.

Likewise, Luzardo’s advanced stats illustrate another aspect of his dominance on the mound this season and why he should get more recognition in the NL Cy Young race.

He has a 2.9 WAR (Wins Above Replacement), which leads all pitchers in the National League. For comparison, Yamamoto has a 1.8 WAR, while Paul Skenes, the betting favorite (+240), has a 2.1 WAR.

Luzardo is holding opponents to a .231 batting average at the plate while also sporting a 0.8 home run percentage and 27.7 strikeout percentage in 10 starts this season. Right-handed batters are hitting .244 at the plate against the veteran, while lefties are struggling with a .193 average. He also boasts a 10.1 SO/9 (strikeout per nine innings), which is better than Skenes’ SO/9 (8.9).

If you are Phillies manager Rob Thomson or a Phillies fan, you must be excited with what you’ve gotten from Luzardo thus far. The southpaw has stabilized the starting rotation, which the Phillies needed with Aaron Nola’s early-season struggles.

No one expected the 27-year-old starting pitcher to be in the NL Cy Young discussion before Opening Day. However, if Luzardo has a strong June and July, he’ll solidify himself as a serious contender.

[Photo courtesy of Bill Streicher-Imagn Images]