Eflin’s off outing raises more concerns

PHILADELPHIA » The Manny Machado trade rush had ended with a party in Los Angeles rather than Philadelphia. The talk of the need for another move before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline thus heated up, though Phillies general manager Matt Klentak had yet to pay it all much heed.

“We’re having multiple active conversations with a variety of teams right now,” Klentak had said Friday. “The thing that I was really encouraged by in the couple weeks leading up to the break is the play of some of our players. On July 1 you might have looked at the roster and said we can upgrade here, here and here. And based on the performance of several of our guys, I don’t think that’s quite as clear now.”

Funny how fast things can get muddled again.

While Klentak continues to see signs that his somewhat dormant offense is clickking better, his team’s bench is almost devoid of talent, and now he has to wonder whether the starting pitching has much of a stretch-drive shelf life.

Just a day after Nick Pivetta came up short in yet another start, Zach Eflin had little to brag about off his brief effort Monday night, knocked out early on the way to a 7-6 Dodgers win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

Eflin, who missed a start just before the All-Star break to allow a blister on the middle finger of his throwing hand to heal, was mostly wild in a 75-pitch outing that didn’t get him through three innings against the defending National League champs.

Not that his middle finger had anything to do with it.

“It was just one of those games where I didn’t really have anything going,” Eflin said. “My timing was kind of messed up; I just couldn’t get into a rhythm. I couldn’t really throw any offspeed pitches for strikes, let alone my fastballs for strikes. I was falling behind guys, was 2-0 on probably almost every hitter. Just one of those games where you just kind of swallow and move on to the next.”

Eflin allowed three runs on five hits in only 2⅔ innings pitched, with 35 of his 75 pitches counted as balls. That didn’t exactly sit well with a young pitcher whose first half was essentially a pleasant surprise.

But while he entered the game at 7-2 with a 3.15 ERA, Eflin had lasted only five innings in his previous start back on July 9. That was a no-decision that ended a string of six straight Eflin wins.

He begged off any excuses about blister problems or resultant rustiness.

“It’s on me,” Eflin said. “I did a horrible job of setting the tone for the game and I look forward to busting my ass for the next four days and getting back on the mound in Cincinnati and go from there.”

But with a week to go until trade deadline day, it would seem Klentak has to make a go of giving his club some help. With Aaron Altherr shipped out to the Lehigh Valley, the Phillies’ bench consists of whatever catcher isn’t in the starting lineup, along with legendary names like Jesmuel Valentin, Trevor Plouffe and Mitch Walding.

While Pedro Florimon and J.P. Crawford are getting closer to returning from their respective rehabs — and that’s not exactly expected to pump up this offense — it would seem obvious that Klentak needs to make a play for a strong bat or two.

Meanwhile, he might still ponder acting on another starting pitcher, since Pivetta’s sinking performances over the last two months and now an off-kilter Eflin outing are raising alarm bells.

Besides, you can’t have enough pitching.

“Not especially worried,” Klentak responded when asked about his starting rotation Friday. “I suppose if we played until November 1 it would be a different story, but I’ll take that if that’s what happens.

“Starting pitching has been the strength of our team this year. We’re very encouraged about not only the five here but also what we have in Triple-A, and we’re hopeful that that’s going to mean that we can stay out of the starting pitcher trade market at the deadline because, if you can avoid it, that is definitely a market to avoid.”