After the Dodgers and the Padres played a two-game series in Seoul, South Korea to open the season. The 2024 MLB Opening Day is just around the corner. The new season is coming and we are going to see several pitchers make their first Opening Day starts.
For the Miami Marlins, this time, the Opening Day starter is not Sandy Alcantara, who won the 2022 NL Cy Young award and had made 4 Opening Day starts for the Marlins. Alcantara underwent Tommy John surgery last October and will miss the 2024 season. With Alcantara recovering from Tommy John surgery, the Marlins will give the ball to Jesus Luzardo. And it will be Luzardo’s first Opening Day start.
Luzardo had a breakout 2023 season, posting a 3.58 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP over 178.2 innings. With Luzardo taking the mound in the first game of the season, is it going to be a good start for the Marlins?
The Marlins will host the Pirates on Opening Day. So, let’s take a look at Luzardo’s performance against the Pirates. Luzardo only made 1 start against the Pirates by far in his career. On June 23, 2023, he tossed 7 innings against the Pirates and he was outstanding. Luzardo allowed only 2 hits and punched out 9 batters. The Pirates didn’t score any runs against Luzardo last time.
In addition, Luzardo was traded to the Marlins in July 2021. Since then, pitching at LoanDepot Park has been normal for Luzardo. By far in his career, Luzardo made 36 starts at this ballpark, posting a 3.88 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP over 195 innings. However, looking at his performance last season, he did pitch very well at home. Luzardo made 19 starts at LoanDepot Park last season and owned a 2.99 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP over 108.1 innings. Opponents’ batting average against him was .214 at this ballpark.
Finally, do you still remember who was the last left-handed pitcher to start for the Marlins on Opening Day? In 2016, the Marlins chose Wei-Yin Chen to take the ball on Opening Day. In that Opening Day start, Chen tossed 5 innings, giving up 9 hits and 5 runs. Well, it wasn’t a great game for Chen and the Marlins.
Being named the Opening Day starter is surely an honor for MLB pitchers. In the first game of the season, the Marlins and Luzardo will surely want to have a good start. The Marlins clinched a berth of the postseason in 2023 and they definitely would like to do it again this year. Without Sandy Alcantara, Jesus Luzardo will have an even more important role for the Marlins in the 2024 season. In the first start of the season, let’s see if Luzardo will have an impressive performance on Opening Day. Additionally, the key thing is about staying healthy. For Luzardo, he tossed a career-high 178.2 innings in 2023 and it will be worthwhile to see whether he can throw more innings in the 2024 season.
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