MIAMI — In all of five pitches, the best of Jesus Luzardo was back for the Miami Marlins.
For his first at-bat in nearly three months, the pitcher stared down Jonathan India and worked his way into a favorable count, with two of his first three pitches painting the edges of the plate for called strikes. On the fifth pitch of his first plate appearance since May, Luzardo got to do what he has always done best and make a hitter look foolish. He whipped a slider out and away from India, and strutted off the mound when the Cincinnati Reds’ second baseman flailed at a diving pitch in the dirt.
This was the sort of combination Luzardo, 24, rode through the minors to become a consensus top-15 prospect before he debuted in 2019 and the form he recaptured at the start of this season — before he landed on the injured list with a right forearm strain — to make his case for consideration as part of the Marlins’ lauded cache of mid-20s starters.
