Healthy Eflin provides necessary rotation depth
From the beginning of his professional baseball career, two words have haunted Zach Eflin.
They’ve been there, and they rarely have gone away. They have followed him, tormented him, challenged and too often defined him.
They were there when, just out of high school and as a first-round draft choice in the Padres organization, he was stricken with mononucleosis. They were there after he’d been traded to the Phillies and he didn’t need surgery on one knee but on both. And when he had a shoulder injury last year, they were all but stitched to the back of his uniform, above the number 56, where his surname would go. The words: When healthy. When healthy, he would be a great pitcher.
When healthy, he would prove why he was once drafted in that first round.
When healthy, he would fit snugly into a pitching rotation that, nearly halfway through a season, is deep enough to carry the Phillies into some kind of playoff race.
“I think what is still most noticeable about Eflin,” Gabe Kapler was saying Thursday, “is his health.” See? Eflin was the topic before a Thursday visit from the Washington Nationals, as he was the night before, when he threw
the first seven innings of a combined shutout of the New York Yankees. Indeed, he was a topic around the sport after winning all of his five starts in June, all against teams in first or second place at the time.
The reason? The No. 1 reason? That. “Health is No. 1, for sure,” Eflin said. “I’m going out there and giving my all every single pitch and I’ve never been able to do that before. I’ve always nitpicked the corners and kind of taken it easy so I could stay in the game longer. To go full force every single pitch has been huge for me. To throw every pitch with intent has been the biggest thing.”
As the No. 7 overall pick in the 2014 draft, and after a strong close to the 2017 season, Aaron Nola was expected to thrive this season. And Jake Arrieta has been a Cy Young winner. But from there, the Phillies’ rotation was a mystery, to be filled in from a pool of what Pete Mackanin once accurately called “the usual suspects.”
So, it has worked. Neither Nick Pivetta nor Vince Velasquez has been horribly out of place in a contending rotation. Jerad Eickhoff, who was loosely expected to fall in at No. 3, is nearing a return after half-a-season on the disabled list. Then, there is Eflin, 24, recently as reliable as any pitcher in the game, the first Phillie to go 5-0 in a month since Cole Hamels in 2012.
“Solidifying a spot in the rotation was very important to him, and that’s exactly what he did,” Kapler said. “He kind of forced everybody’s hand. We didn’t have a choice. We couldn’t replace him with somebody else. He kind of had to go out and make his next start. And here we are: He’s one of the best pitchers in baseball in June.
“We’ve put him in good spots to succeed in and I’m proud of that. And I think he’s taken the bull by the horns. He’s done a really good job working with our catchers. He’s sort of become a different pitcher, whereas he was kind of sinker-slider, now you’re seeing that heavy four-seam fastball playing more frequently.”
Because he has had to spend so much time recovering from physical trauma, Eflin never had the time or opportunity to become a complete pitcher. But healthy, he has added pitches and confidence.
“I came over here with a sinker and a change-up,” he said, after going 30.2 June innings without surrendering a home run. “Now I feel like I have a better arsenal. I’ve been a lot more impressed with my fourseam. Being able to do that has really helped me a lot. It’s kind of cool to think you were one pitcher and then all of a sudden you’re a different pitcher. Being able to make that transition has been awesome.”
If he can remain healthy, Eflin will be the No. 3 pitcher the Phillies require. Tuck Eickhoff in there somewhere, maybe pick up a left-hander at the deadline and suddenly the Phils have a contending-level rotation.
Eflin possesses, Kapler insists, the necessary determination.
“I think we’ve seen a willingness to kind of empty his tank,” the manager said. “It’s like the willingness to say, ‘This pitch is the most important pitch. I’m not thinking 15, 20 pitches from now. I’m just trying to throw this pitch with as much intensity and execute it as best I possibly can.’ We’ve kind of seen it pitch to pitch to pitch.
“He has more intensity, more aggression. And he’s still really a calm, easy demeanor guy off the field. It’s incredible how composed he is in the dugout as well. He has a strong level of awareness. He’s been very good in staying in the moment.”
He’s healthy and he’s dominating. With that, his moment has arrived.