Luzardo was peaking

Jesús Luzardo looked like Philadelphia's hottest arm after opening September with a complete game shutout against first-place Atlanta, dropping his ERA to 2.87.

“He appeared to be peaking at the exact right time”

Then the shoulder barked

The Phillies scratched him from his next scheduled start because of shoulder inflammation, hoping one missed outing would calm things down.

The rest did not work

Luzardo still was not feeling right, so Philadelphia put him on the injured list and ruled him out through the regular season finale.

“He was not feeling as well as they expected today.”

Holman gets the spot

Journeyman pitcher Grant Holman is coming up from Triple-A to take Luzardo's roster spot, at least for now.

October is still open

The Phillies are not ruling Luzardo out for the playoffs, but his status is now uncertain right when the rotation should be settling.

“They are not ruling him out for potential postseason start”

Two starters are locked

Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez remain the clear postseason starters. The bigger question is who handles Games 3 and 4.

Nola or Painter next

With Luzardo sidelined, Aaron Nola or Andrew Painter could be asked to take bigger October starts than expected.

First, clinch the spot

Philadelphia sits as the National League's fifth seed, holding the second Wild Card slot with 12 games left and a magic number of eight.

Four starters, thin margin

The Phillies must finish the regular season with four starters and only one off-day, which likely forces at least one bullpen game.

Bullpen pressure rises

That is a scary ask after the bullpen and emergency help allowed 12 runs in a recent blowout loss in Atlanta.

“Putting more pressure on the shaky bullpen isn't what the doctor ordered.”

A huge arm missing

Luzardo owns a 6.4 WAR, top-tier NL marks in ERA, WHIP and strikeout rate, and a likely top-five Cy Young finish. The Phillies need that version back.