Jul 4, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jesœs Luzardo (44) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
Team Venezuela was apparently hoping to add Jesús Luzardo to their World Baseball Classic roster after upsetting Japan to advance to the semifinals, but the Phillies' lefty declined the opportunity:
Team Venezuela wanted to add Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo to the pitching staff for the next round, manager Omar Lopez said, but were turned down.
They’ll instead add 36-year-old Jose Alvarez to the staff.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 15, 2026
Interestingly, Venezuela's pivot will be José Álvarez, who pitched in the majors for a decade, including posting a 3.17 ERA across 75 appearances for the Phillies between 2019 and 2020.
As for Luzardo, this is a mildly surprising development.
In a January appearance on MLB Network, he did explain why he had elected not to participate in this year's WBC, despite garnering interest from both the United States and Venezuela:
"Yeah, for me, it was obviously a tough decision," Luzardo said. "For me, it's super important to represent Venezuela, my family is from there. It was a tough decision, but going off of a career-high in innings last year and a career-high in workload, looking forward to a free-agent year, I thought it was the most intelligent decision to kinda bypass the Classic, unfortunately. It was something [that was a], again, super hard and super difficult decision, but I felt like it was the most intelligent one. Hopefully, in three or four years, I'm able to do it again and represent Venezuela."
Despite this, Luzardo was placed on the reserve list for Venezuela at the outset of the tournament, even telling MLB.com's Todd Zolecki on March 1 "we’ll see what happens. If they need me, I’ll go."
Of course, at the time Luzardo talked about a willingness to make a single start for Venezuela in the tournament, he didn't yet have his long-term contract. He's since signed a five-year/$135 million extension that features a $32.5 million club option for a sixth season. His future is secured. So it is a bit surprising that when the phone apparently rang, he declined.
Ultimately, we don't know exactly what opportunity was presented to Luzardo. Presumably, though, they would have liked for him to start in their semifinal matchup on Tuesday against Italy. It may be as simple as Luzardo's most recent start in the Grapefruit League having come on March 12, which would mean he would only be pitching on three day's rest. This close to the season, Luzardo and the Phillies may not have wanted his routine to be thrown off, whether it meant Luzardo started on three day's rest or pitched in relief.
