⚾ Problem solved? | Sports Daily Newsletter
Jesús Luzardo thinks he might have been tipping his pitches.
Take a look at the bright side: Maybe one of the Phillies’ problems will work itself out.
In his first 11 starts this season, Jesús Luzardo looked like All-Star material. Then he gave up 20 runs in his last two starts, so something had to be up. Luzardo thinks he knows what it was.
“We found some tipping stuff and found some game plan stuff that teams definitely had, without a doubt,” the Phillies lefty said Sunday. “Now it’s just a matter of fixing that.”
So he was tipping his pitches. It makes sense, given that his velocity and spin rate are as consistent as ever. Plus, Luzardo says he had a similar problem tipping his pitches when he was with the Marlins in 2023.
He is not out of the woods yet, of course. “It’s good finding out what could be the problem,” Luzardo says. “But until you go out there and do it, there’s not really that peace of mind.”
There is very little peace of mind for the Phillies these days, of course. More on that below ...
— Jim Swan, @phillysport, [email protected].
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The storyline was too good to be true: The ‘Nova Knicks had a coaching vacancy and Jay Wright, Hall of Famer, was available.
Only he is not available; he’s still retired from coaching. Wright’s colleague at CBS, Seth Davis, said that Wright told Knicks president Leon Rose as much this weekend. Wright meant what he said to The Inquirer in February of 2024: “I do know, in my mind, I do not think I’ll coach again. I’m so sure about it.”
The Phillies went quietly against Paul Skenes and the Pirates on Sunday, managing only three hits in a 2-1 loss. Swept by the last-place Bucs, the Phillies have dropped five straight and nine of their last 10. Time for a team meeting?
“If our veterans think it’s time for a huge team blowout meeting,” Bryson Stott says, “it’ll happen.”
Sure feels like time to us. It’s not as if Bryce Harper will be riding to the rescue. The Phillies put him on the 10-day injured list Saturday because he says his wrist pain is so bad, “I can’t really function on a baseball field or hit a baseball or anything like that.”
New coach Fran McCaffery will be searching for hidden gems in recruiting as he seeks to turn Penn’s basketball program around. He has enlisted assistant coach Ben Luber to help him in that regard.
While he was an assistant at Binghamton, Luber was the first to give an under-the-radar Canadian guard a scholarship offer: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. McCaffery would be more than pleased with that kind of find.
The Sixers will have the third pick in the NBA draft in two weeks. Whether they decide to add young talent or use the pick as a trade chip, they will influence what several of the teams selecting behind them do.
Daryl Morey has said the team intends on keeping the pick, but one NBA executive told our Keith Pompey that a couple of teams behind the Sixers in the draft are doing heavy research on the possibility of moving up to No. 3.
Worth a look
C.J. speaks: Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson says his trade from the Eagles “wasn’t about the money.”
Spring football: Former Imhotep star Andre Mintze keeps his dream alive in the UFL.
U.S. soccer: The Union’s influence on this summer’s iteration of the men’s national team is unmistakable.
Sneaker fest: Michael Vick makes an appearance at the Got Sole sneaker convention.
Roy Halladay threw the second perfect game in Phillies history — and only the 20th ever in Major League Baseball — on May 29, 2010, in Miami. Tom McCarthy had the call on television, and even now, he considers it the No. 1 moment in his 18 years in the Phillies’ broadcast booth. To mark the 15th anniversary of that unforgettable game, McCarthy sits down with The Inquirer’s Scott Lauber on the latest episode of “Phillies Extra” to relive the 115-pitch masterpiece of Halladay’s Hall of Fame career. Watch here.
On this date
June 9, 2010: The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Flyers, 4-3 in overtime, to capture the Stanley Cup in Game 6. Chicago’s Patrick Kane scored the winning goal on Michael Leighton.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Scott Lauber, Jeff Neiburg, Keith Pompey, Jonathan Tannenwald, Ariel Simpson, Vaughn Johnson, Isabella DiAmore, and Devin Jackson.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
Thank you for reading. I’ll see you in Tuesday’s newsletter. — Jim