If Jesus Luzardo is going to throw 97-98 mph all season …

Making his second start as a Phillie on Friday night against the vaunted Dodgers in a premium early-season matchup, Luzardo continued an excellent start to the year for himself and the rotation.

He blew fastballs by good hitters, induced weak contact and finished the Dodgers off with four different pitches: a fastball that averaged 97 and maxed out at 99, a slider, his new sweeper and a changeup.

Healthy after missing more than half the 2024 season with a back injury, Luzardo’s velocity is in the same range as 2023, when he struck out 208 over a career-high 178⅔ innings. If he stays healthy, he has a chance to make this his career year.

Not only was Luzardo effective on Friday against perhaps the majors’ best lineup, he was also hyper-efficient in the Phillies’ 3-2 win, beginning the seventh inning at 72 pitches. The Dodgers test you with power, patience, bat-to-ball skills and speed. They’re a complete offense. Luzardo was in complete control of them on Friday night, though, encountering zero difficulty until there were two outs in the seventh inning and Teoscar Hernandez blooped a tough-luck double into no-man’s land in shallow right field. He walked the next batter, Will Smith, but struck Kiké Hernandez out swinging at a low slider with the tying run 90 feet away to end his evening.

Through two starts, Luzardo has allowed two runs in 12 innings with 18 strikeouts and four walks.

“”Probably one of the most well-executed starts I’ve had in my career,” he said. “Making the pitches when I needed, moving the ball around. I didn’t shake once, basically trusting J.T. (Realmuto).”

The Phillies’ rotation as a whole has a 2.16 ERA and 0.82 WHIP with 56 strikeouts and nine walks through seven games. The starter has pitched well in six of them, with only Aaron Nola struggling in the third game of the year at Nationals Park. Nola starts on Saturday opposite Japanese rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki.

The quality of the first two offenses the Phillies played was not strong. The Nationals could be a bottom-third offense and the Rockies could lose 105 games. But the Dodgers, even after losing Freddie Freeman to the injured list, have so many threats in their lineup: Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Smith, Tommy Edman, Hernandez, Michael Conforto. They all had quick, unsuccessful at-bats against Luzardo with only Hernandez reaching base.

“A lot of talent, a lot of experience, a lot of veteran guys with superstar power,” Luzardo said. “You have to take it pitch to pitch, at-bat to at-bat. You can’t get overwhelmed and take it as a whole.”

The Phillies aligned their rotation with Luzardo pitching the day in between Zack Wheeler and Nola. The start after Nola belongs to Cristopher Sanchez, which lets the Phillies follow their two right-handed workhorses with high-velocity lefties. Luzardo has the fastest average four-seam fastball among left-handed starters in MLB this season and Sanchez has the fastest sinker.

When you assemble a rotation like this and don’t have a lackluster offense or bullpen, you’re going to be favored in most games. The Phillies’ clearest strength is their group of five starters, and they don’t even have Ranger Suarez (or Andrew Painter) yet.

The widespread offseason stance that they did not do enough may have overlooked the impact of a healthy Jesus Luzardo.