Luzardo Is Back. Now the Question Is Arraez.

Jesús Luzardo has been cleared to return from the IL, which is genuinely good news for a rotation that has been running short-handed for the better part of two weeks. He went 17-6 with a 3.13 ERA this season and was one of the team's six All-Stars — his arm matters in October, and getting him back healthy before the postseason is the kind of thing Philadelphia needed to go right.

The harder question right now is Arraez. I wrote last week about his ankle and the uncertainty around both his batting title chase and his roster availability. That uncertainty hasn't resolved. He's hitting .300 on the year, and with the Phillies sitting half a game behind the last wild card spot with nine games left and a three-game losing streak underway, the lineup needs every functional piece it can get. Arraez at second base is a different lineup than Arraez on the bench or off the roster entirely.

The Phillies are 83-70, elimination number nine, and the offense has been quieter than anyone would like — scoring nearly a run and a half fewer per game over the last ten contests than they were before that stretch. Luzardo's return steadies the rotation. Whether Arraez can play steadies everything else.