Phillies' unfortunate Jesus Luzardo news likely ends hunt for NL East title

The Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Atlanta Braves in extra innings on Friday night in a crushing loss that dropped them to 5.0 games back in the NL East race.

But the worst news of the night came shortly after the game. As Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic reported, Jesus Luzardo, their superstar lefty starter, was scratched from his Saturday start and will have his next outing pushed back.

This is some exceptionally terrible news for the Phillies. Not only are they going to be without Luzardo for his next outing and have some worries going forward as well, but the Phillies are also now likely completely out of the NL East race.

Jesus Luzardo news likely ends Phillies' NL East race

"The Phillies are scratching Jesus Luzardo from tomorrow's start," Varnes reported Friday. "He reported shoulder stiffness after his last outing. Don Mattingly said they want to be careful with him, though Luzardo felt like he could pitch."

This is some very tough news for the Phillies, that's saved only by Luzardo feeling like he could have pitched if necessary, and the fact that this might not be a stint on the injured list.

But the side effect of this loss for the Phillies is that Luzardo won't face the Braves on Saturday, which all but ends their chances of winning the National League East.

Sitting 5.0 games back and without the tiebreaker, the Phillies would need a lot of help from the Braves' opponents to end the season if they want to have a chance of winning the division.

MORE: Phillies' Jesus Luzardo on track to be best road pitcher in MLB history since 1913

They have two more games against the Phillies this weekend, followed by three against the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, and Miami Marlins to close out the 2026 season.

That's not a difficult schedule for the Braves, and even if the Phillies somehow sneak two wins over the Braves on Saturday and Sunday, it would still take the Phillies to make up 4.0 games on the Braves by the end of the season.

What that means is that, of the Braves' final 12 games of the season, if they went 8-4, the Phillies would need to go 12-0 to close out the season and win the East. If they get swept this weekend, they would need the Braves to go 6-6 while going 12-0 to win the division.

All of that to say, the Phillies' chances of winning the division right now are effectively over. It'd take a miracle to win the division, especially now that Luzardo is banged up, missing his next start, and might need more rest before the postseason.

More MLB news:

• Why Braves could trade Spencer Strider this upcoming offseason
• MLB insider accuses Shohei Ohtani of misleading Dodgers about injury issues
• Mariners not likely to pick up $9M option on Victor Robles this offseason
• Tatsuya Imai predicted not to opt out of $36M Astros contract
• Brewers' Jacob Misiorowski makes all kinds of MLB history with 1,000 pitches of 100 mph