Luzardo celebrates win by climbing a mountain

May 11th, 2023

This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

How did Marlins left-hander  celebrate Tuesday night's 6-2 victory over the D-backs?

Prior to his quality start, Luzardo decided on treating himself to a postgame meal at In-N-Out Burger near the team hotel. But since he felt a bit guilty about ordering three double-doubles, he also planned on waking up at 5 a.m. on Wednesday to hike Camelback Mountain.

"I like to get up, and it's a good way to jumpstart my mornings," Luzardo said. "Today's a run day for me, so instead of running, I'll just go hike."

On a surprisingly cool and overcast morning in Phoenix, Luzardo called it perfect weather for the 1.3-mile hike. Joining him was outfield/first-base coach Jon Jay. Luzardo estimated it took them about 35-40 minutes to go up the mountain, which has an elevation of 2,704 feet, and a bit less than that to come back down.

"There's people running up and down [the mountain], which is impressive," said Luzardo, who had half a bottle of water on tap for the hike. "So that wasn't us. We were going at a good pace up, and then there was probably a handful of people out there. Nothing crazy."

When Luzardo played for the A's, he got into hiking during Spring Training in the Cactus League. But Luzardo also makes it a habit to walk around cities or explore on his own on road trips.

"It feels like you can see everything, so it's pretty cool to get up there," Luzardo said. "It's like a good getaway for me. It's kind of like a little trip away on the road."