In 2016, Jesús Luzardo became the first Peruvian-born player to be drafted by a major league baseball team in over 25 years. He made his MLB debut in 2019 and has since played over 50 games for both the Oakland Athletics and Miami Marlins. He is a left-handed pitcher who is reputed to be able to pitch at up to 98 mph.
Although he was born in Lima, Peru, Luzardo’s parents are both Venezuelan, and he identifies as Venezuelan too. His family relocated to Florida when he was a baby, and he grew up in the state, attending Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. He graduated in 2016 and had committed to play baseball for the University of Miami. His plans changed, however, when he was chosen by the Washington Nationals in the third round of that year’s MLB Draft. Despite needing surgery for an injury, he signed up with the Nationals and was put into their minor-league system, playing his first professional game with the GCL Nationals (now the Florida Complex League Nationals) the following year.
Shortly afterwards, Luzardo was traded to the Oakland Athletics. In his first 12 games with their minor-league affiliates, he posted an incredible 1.66 ERA and became one of the top prospects of the minor-league system, winning All-League honours and taking part in the 2018 All-Star Futures Game. He finally made his MLB debut in September 2019. With disruption caused by injury and the pandemic, Luzardo has been unable to show major league crowds what he can do, but now settled with the Marlins, he’ll be looking to put that right.