The lefty has given up 20 runs in his last two starts. Could there be an easy fix for him? “Theoretically it should be, yeah,” Luzardo says.

After Jesus Luzardo's scorching hot start, he is also likely to retain his spot as a starter, even with his recent rough outings. That's a full five-man rotation, and it doesn't even include top Phillies prospect Andrew Painter, who's expected to get the ...

After two poor starts, in which he conceded 20 total runs, Jesus Luzardo looked much more like himself on Wednesday.

Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo had an atrocious outing last time out. He was basically just as bad Thursday and the result is the worst back-to-back stat line in MLB history. On

Jesus Luzardo was slated to pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies in their series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday.Six days ago, everyone would have been confident that this was a game the Phillies could win. But that was shaken a bit coming off the worst outing of his career against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 31 when he was shelled for 12 runs in 3 1/3 innings of work.Still, Luzardo had been one of the best pitchers in the sport before that outing, and with a new hair style that he was sporting to help get that start out of his mind, the hope was he would be able to flush that performance.That did not happen, though.Luzardo was shelled again, allowing eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings of work this time around, giving up hard contact after hard contact that looked like the Blue Jays were going through batting practice.Alarm bells should be fully going off right now.Philadelphia was beyond pleased with what they had gotten from Luzardo in the early going, as the left-hander was performing like a top-of-the-rotation arm that made the struggles of Aaron Nola feel less severe.But after his last two outings, that is no longer the case.Last Two Starts: 20 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings pitchedFirst 11 Starts: 16 earned runs in 67 innings pitchedThe Phillies need to be working overtime to figure out what has gone wrong for the left-hander.A velocity dip has not been the issue, with his four-seamer and sinker averaging the same speed as his season-long numbers, so that suggests his arm is still live despite all the innings he's thrown before these two horrendous outings.However, location has been the issue.Luzardo has been leaving tons of balls over the middle part of the plate, and at this level, those are going to get crushed.Hopefully it's just a location, mechanics or even pitch-tipping issue that Luzardo is dealing with instead of something physical.But it's clear that this version of the left-hander is not the same that he showed earlier in the season, and that should be concerning for Philadelphia as they navigate the summer months.More From Phillies On SIThis article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/phillies as Alarm Bells Going off After New Phillies Star Jesus Luzardo Was Shelled Again.

"There's something obvious that we're missing when the first 11 starts are lights-out and then the next two are 20 earned runs," he said.

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jesus Luzardo makes unfortunate MLB history after being the first pitcher in two starts to give up 20 earned runs in less than six innings pitched.

Chicago evened the series up 1-1 yesterday with an 8-4 victory to send Philadelphia back into the loss column. The Phillies have lost 10 of the last 12 games, 6 of the past 7 and three straight when Luzardo pitches. The Cubs are 2-3 in the previous five games.

Luzardo felt good. “My arm felt like a whip,” he said. It was the best he’d felt in a month and a half. Then Saturday happened.