Luzardo caught the eye of manager Bob Melvin with his velocity during his first live batting practice session of spring Thursday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
The 22-year-old southpaw came into camp with high expectations after a brief but impressive big-league stint last season. Luzardo posted a 1.50 ERA and 0.87 WHIP across six appearances, and the fact he impressed on the radar gun while facing the trio of Sean Murphy, Jonah Heim and Collin Theroux serves as an encouraging first step in what the team hopes will be a breakout season. Luzardo averaged 96.4 mph on his fastball during his cup of coffee in the majors last season, the type of velocity that could make him one of the better back-end rotation pieces in all of baseball.