This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Don’t forget, Sunday is Mother’s Day.
MLB.com has shined a spotlight on several Phillies moms over the years. Last year, Bryson Stott retold the story of how he broke the news to his mom, Shana, that he’d made the Phillies’ 2022 Opening Day roster. Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter talked in March about calling their parents after they learned they made the Opening Day roster. There is José Alvarado’s mother, of course. But there also are J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner and others.
Bryce Harper even homered on consecutive Mother’s Days a few years ago with the Nationals.
We caught up this week with Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo and asked him what he remembered about telling his mom, Monica, that he made the Oakland A’s in September 2019.
Luzardo’s season with Triple-A Las Vegas had just ended.
“I remember they called me into the office and said, ‘Hey, you’re going up to the big leagues to help out for the playoff push,’” Luzardo said. “And I remember calling my mom at home and she was crying. And I basically just told her, ‘I’ll meet you in Houston in a couple days.’
“We kind of knew it was happening, but she was still, like, obviously in shock that it finally happened.”
Monica flew to Houston for Luzardo’s debut. His father, Jesús Luzardo Sr., was in France for a work conference.
“He had just gotten there, and he couldn’t make it back in time,” Luzardo said. “But he watched the game at like 3 a.m., or whatever time it was over there.”
But mom got to Houston in time for Luzardo’s debut on Sept. 11, 2019. Luzardo came out of the bullpen and pitched three innings in a 5-3 victory over the Astros. He allowed one hit, one run and struck out two.
He struck out the first batter he faced: Aledmys Díaz.
He allowed a homer to Martín Maldonado.
What a moment for the Luzardo family.
“My mom drove my sister and I back and forth everywhere,” Luzardo said. “My sister did synchronized swimming, and I did baseball and other sports. My mom was just back and forth from the pool to the baseball field to school all week, all weekend. She was great, always very supportive. And I couldn't have done it without her. She was always around. My dad traveled a lot for work, so she was always there for every game, every practice.
“She’s always just very supportive. If a start goes good or goes bad, she's the same for me, which is nice to have. I mean, just super loving, supportive, always there for me, always someone I lean on. She's just, you know, one of my best friends growing up, along with my dad.
“And she’s a great cook. Her Venezuelan food is second to none.”