Zach Eflin

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Zachary Adams Eflin

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Biographical Information[edit]

Zach Eflin was a 2012 supplemental first-round pick.

Eflin was 7-0 with a 0.51 ERA as a high school senior and was timed as high as 97 mph on the radar gun. He had a commitment to the University of Central Florida when the San Diego Padres took him 33rd overall in the 2012 amateur draft. The selection was compensation for the loss of Heath Bell to free agency. He was the second of four Padres first-rounders, after fellow high school hurler Max Fried and before Travis Jankowski and Walker Weickel. He soon signed and made his pro debut for the AZL Padres on June 28th with an atrocious relief outing. Replacing fellow former first-rounder Joe Ross, he yielded four hits, a walk and 3 runs in only 1 1/3 IP. The club rallied to win a 14-13 slugfest with the AZL Rangers.

On December 11, 2014, the Padres traded Eflin with Yasmani Grandal and Joe Wieland to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Matt Kemp and Tim Federowicz. The trade was only finalized on December 18th, because of concerns over Kemp's health; one day after the trade was completed, the Dodgers sent Eflin to the Philadelphia Phillies along with another young pitcher, Tim Windle, in return for SS Jimmy Rollins. He spent 2015 with the Reading Fightin Phils of the Eastern League, going 8-6, 3.69 in 23 starts. In 2016, he moved up to the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

On June 10, 2016, the Phillies announced that Eflin would be making his major league debut on June 14th, taking the place of the injured Vince Velasquez in the starting rotation. He had a pretty rough first outing, however, as the Toronto Blue Jays chalked 9 runs off him in 2 2/3 innings on their way to an 11-3 win. He gave up three homers, including a grand slam by Josh Donaldson. Things went better after that and on July 5th, he pitched his first career complete game in defeating the Atlanta Braves, 5-1, registering his first career win in the process. He went 3-5, 5.54 in 11 starts in his rookie season. This included a second complete game, this one his first career shutout, a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 22nd. That was the high point of his season however: over his last three starts following that gem, he allowed 20 runs in 13 innings and was sent down to the minors to finish the season.

In spite of the rough ending to his rookie season, Zach pitched for the Phillies for the next six years, establishing himself as a rotation mainstay before losing his job in 2022. In 2017, he once again split the season between the majors and the minors going 1-5, 6.16 in 11 starts for the Phillies, but in 2018, he was 11-8, 4.36 in 24 starts. He followed that with a 2019 season in which he was 10-13, 4.13 and tied for the National League lead with 2 complete games, his first two since his rookie season. His 163 1/3 innings that season were the most he had thrown until then. The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc with the 2020 season, and in his case it meant he could only make 10 starts in 11 outings, finishing at 4-2, 3.97. He then had a poor season in 2021, when injuries limited him to just 18 starts and he finished at 4-7, 4.17. By 2022, he had trouble holding on to a starting job on what was a much improved Phillies team that made it all the way to the World Series. Only 13 of his 20 appearances that year came in a starting role (he had only pitched 5 times out of the bullpen in the previous six seasons) and he finished the year at 3-5, 4.04. He was used as a reliever in the postseason and saw action in all four rounds, making 10 appearances with no decisions while giving up 4 runs in 10 2/3 innings. Four of these appearances came in the World Series against the Houston Astros when he gave up no runs on4 hits and a walk while striking out 6 batters in 4 1/3 innings.

On December 13, 2022, he signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Rays, in order to play closer to his hometown in Orlando, FL. He had his best major league season in 2023 when he led the American League with 16 wins, going 16-8, 3.50 in 31 starts. He set personal bests in starts, innings (177 2/3) and strikeouts (186). He finished 6th in the Cy Young Award vote. He started Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Texas Rangers on October 4th, but things did not go great as he gave up 5 runs in as many innings, including homers by Adolis Garcia and Evan Carter and he was charged with the 7-1 loss that eliminated the Rays. In 2024, he went 5-7, 4.09 over his first 19 starts when the Rays decided on July 26th that there was little hope of them contending for the postseason that season, even though they were not out of the wild card race by much. That day, they traded OF Randy Arozarena to the Seattle Mariners and Zach to the Baltimore Orioles, receiving prospects in return. In Eflin's case, there were three players coming to Tampa: IF Mac Horvath, P Jackson Baumeister and OF Matthew Etzel. He was a winner in his first start for the Orioles, defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in the first game of a doubleheader on July 29th, 11-5, pitching 6 innings. The Jays had also been the last team he had faced with the Rays, on July 24th, but he had finished with a no-decision in that start.

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • AL Wins Leader (2023)
  • NL Complete Games Leader (2019)
  • 15 Wins Seasons: 1 (2023)

Further Reading[edit]

  • Adam Berry: "Rays agree to 3-year deal with RHP Eflin (source)", mlb.com, December 1, 2022. [1]
  • Adam Berry: "Eflin comes full-circle with hometown Rays: Right-hander signs largest free-agent contract in franchise history", mlb.com, December 13, 2022. [2]
  • Bob Nightengale: "Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin overcame tragedy to become one of MLB's biggest surprises", USA Today, May 15, 2019. [3]

Related Sites[edit]

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