Luzardo scratched from Saturday start with left shoulder stiffness

ATLANTA -- Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo has been scratched from Saturday night’s start in Atlanta because of stiffness in his left shoulder.

Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly made the announcement following Friday night’s 6-5 loss to the Braves in 11 innings at Truist Park. Luzardo pitched the first shutout of his career on Monday, tossing a two-hitter against the Braves.

“As we worked through it the last couple of days, we thought he's gonna be able to make the start,” Mattingly said. “He’s still not quite there. We feel like it's safer to be careful with him. We don’t want this to linger, so it's one of those things, we want to try to take care of it and just go from there.”

Luzardo was unavailable to comment after the game, but Mattingly said he is hopeful that Luzardo will pitch sometime next week.

“That's the first plan,” Mattingly said. “Yeah, he needs just a couple extra days, works it out of there, and go from there.”

If not...

“Well, if it lingers, it obviously would be a big blow and I would be more concerned to this point,” Mattingly said. “I don't feel that same way. He was at the point today, we talked with him. He threw a little touch-and-feel [bullpen session] today, just to see where he was at. He's just really having trouble getting loose. He thought he could pitch. We didn't feel like it was the best thing.”

Mattingly said the Phillies will use an opener on Saturday.