‘THAT DUDE BRINGS IT’

Jesus Luzardo’s repertoire of pitches makes batters think long and hard about their approach.

Braden Bishop, the Mariners outfielder and Bay Area native, stepped into the box as the leadoff hitter against A’s lefty Jesus Luzardo on a May night in Midland, Texas.

Luzardo was just a 20-yearold working his way through Double-a, but his status as a top prospect in baseball was already well known, and Bishop had his approach ready.

“I was like, ‘I’m going to ambush fastball first pitch,’” Bishop said. “And then you actually get in there and it’s every bit of 97-98. It’s definitely an eye-opening experience because he’s got elite stuff.

“He’s the guy that, when you’re not hitting against him, you’re fascinated because you’re like, ‘Oh my god.’ A lefty, throwing upper 90s, all the offspeed stuff, big legs coming down at you. He’s definitely a special arm that you’d rather watch than face.”

All of Major League Baseball got a small taste of Bishop’s experience in September and October last season, where Luzardo struck out 20 batters and only allowed two runs, six hits and five walks in 15 innings between the regular season and the AL Wild Card Game.

For the hitters who have faced him, it’s hard to forget Luzardo, both for his distinct mound presence and for his live left arm.

“He’s good, man. He’s really good,” Rangers catcher Jose

Trevino said. “I love facing other pitchers that bring the competitiveness, the fire, the energy. Like, you can tell on the mound, they have a good demeanor up there. This dude… this dude is going to be a great pitcher for a long time, I think.”

Rangers infielder Scott Heineman added, “When you’ve got a guy throwing 98 from the left side, with those glasses, he’s a competitor, he’s going to give you a battle, so you’ve got to be ready to go from pitch one.”

All six regular-season appearances came against AL West opponents, facing batters that he could continue to face for years. But some of those hitters had already seen Luzardo before. Mariners infielder Dylan Moore hit a homer against Luzardo in Triple-a back in 2018 when he was a Brewers prospect.

“He kind of jumps at you a little bit, and all the stuff is electric,” Moore said. “For me, you’ve got to get the fastball, which moves pretty good down and away, you’ve got to get that close to you and then you’ve got to watch out for the offspeed stuff. The changeup’s good, the slider’s good. It’s definitely a grinder AB every time.”

Moore faced Luzardo twice in last season’s final weekend, and after he popped out the first time, he worked the count to 3-0 before the fourth pitch — a 98 mph fastball — drilled him on his elbow the second time. Moore was thankful he had a pad covering it.

“I was just taking all the way and it came right in there,” Moore said. “He has an electric fastball, so it’s tough to get out of the way of anything like that.”

Luzardo was on track to be in the rotation last spring, but a rotator cuff strain in March sent him to the injured list, and he was sidelined for another month when he strained his lat in early July. The 22-year-old worked as a starter in August for Las Vegas, but the A’s used Luzardo strictly out of the bullpen in September. His opponents are split on where they’d like to see him.

“I think I’d rather face him as a starter than out of the ‘pen,” Heineman said. “Because when he’s coming out of the ‘pen, he’s coming in hot. 99 (mph) and he’s not saving any energy, he’s going full-go.”

Moore, who faced Luzardo as a starter in the minors, countered, “He wasn’t throwing as hard because he was throwing more pitches, but still the stuff was there. If he could locate, which I believe he can, as a starter, then he’ll be very, very good.”

And throughout every stop so far, he has been, something Bishop can attest to. The St. Francis-mountain View alum has gone 1 for 6 against Luzardo throughout their professional careers, and he almost didn’t get the one hit in 2018 after falling behind in the count.

“It’s not a guy you want to get down 0-2 to, because he throws every pitch for a strike and he’s got good put-away stuff,” Bishop said. “I remember he threw me a slider and he left it up and out over the plate a little bit, and I shot it into right field for a hit. It was one of those moments where it’s the biggest sigh of relief, because you’re like, ‘Oh my god, if he had just thrown the heater, or thrown the changeup, or even made a good slider down, you’re probably out.’”

That’s how Ty France feels, too. The Padres infielder faced the left-hander nine times across four starts in Double-a in 2018 and went 0 for 9 with three strikeouts. He got another at-bat in Luzardo’s first appearance of the spring on Feb. 25 and struck out on three pitches.

“His stuff’s electric,” France said. “His fastball, he’s got really good command of and he’s got good movement on it. The other day, he started me off changeup-changeup, and then ran his 97, 98 up there and it looked a lot harder. He’s definitely got bigleague stuff.”

It’s the kind of stuff that makes people show immediate respect.

“Hopefully we face each other for 15 years,” Trevino said. “But I’d love to work with him one day, whether it’s catching a bullpen or something. That dude brings it.”