Zach Eflin watched his new Tampa Bay Rays rotation-mates hit the injured list, one by one, this year.
First there was Jeffrey Springs, then Drew Rasmussen and then the Rays ace, Shane McClanahan. All lost for the season.
As each was injured, the importance of Eflin, who starts Wednesday afternoon against the Texas Rangers in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card series, grew exponentially.
“With everything we’ve gone through this season, with losing the guys that we lost, he has really stepped up,” said Rays reliever Shawn Armstrong. “He’s never really let it affect him. He knows what he’s got to do, day in and day out, and he takes the ball. He’s a pro.”
Eflin, 29, knows how difficult it is to stay healthy in the majors. He had a brief Injured List stint in April due to lower back stiffness, causing him to miss two starts. He missed two-plus months in 2022 due to a right knee injury. His 2021 season also was cut short due to knee surgery.
So, when he talks about his 2023, about how he made 31 starts, threw almost 180 innings and posted a 3.50 ERA, he says there’s one primary he’s had so much success.
“I think the first and biggest step was just getting healthy. I finally was able to get healthy at the end of last year,” Eflin said. “Got it cleaned up and I haven’t felt anything since. I’ve been healthy since then. That’s been the biggest key.”
Tampa Bay Rays dive deep in free agent pool to land Zach Eflin
The small-market, modest-budget Rays jumped quickly into the free-agent pool last offseason, and they dove deeper than ever before, signing Eflin in December to a three-year, $40-million deal. It’s the largest contract the franchise had ever given to a free agent from another team.
That’s more than $13 million per year for a pitcher who was 36-45 with a 4.49 ERA in his career and had never thrown more than 165 innings in any of his seven big-league seasons with the Phillies.
It seemed like a stretch for such a thrifty club like the Rays. It wasn’t. Not if Eflin could stay on the mound.
“I don’t think we paid too much attention to the (career) ERA. We wanted to make sure that he was healthy,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “We saw a guy that had a pretty unique pitch mix and very, very good command. And he has probably elevated all of those … He has executed pitches at a rate as high as anybody that we’ve had here in a long time and that has allowed him to be so successful.”
Several teams saw Eflin this winter as a late-inning relief option after he came off the IL last September, allowed one run in seven bullpen outings in the regular season and then had four scoreless relief appearances in the World Series.
But Eflin wanted to continue starting and wanted to pitch for the Rays, the team he rooted for as a kid growing up in the Orlando area. He was also psyched to join an organization known for getting the best out of talented pitchers who haven’t quite soared to their heights yet.
“Choosing a team like this, who is so experienced in getting pitchers to reach their potential, was very intriguing in my eyes because I’ve always felt really good with the baseball my hand and the way that I can manipulate a baseball,” Zach Eflin said. “I thought it was kind of like a perfect marriage to come over here in free agency and continue to learn and obviously get healthy and figure out how to further my career. So, this has been an amazing landing spot for me.”
The Rays don’t have a special sauce to get the most out of their arms. But they do have a consistent pattern of acquisition – they focus on pitchers that do something exceptionally well, use analytics to isolate and further improve it, and then concentrate on other areas of a pitcher’s arsenal.
Eflin had two prominent arrows in his quiver before joining the Rays: excellent command and one of the nastier sinkers in the game. The Rays staff, led by pitching coach Kyle Snyder, worked with Eflin on how and when to best utilize his sinker, helped him develop a sweeper and be more consistent with his changeup. It wasn’t about changing him at all. Just some tweaking.
“They really liked my sinker, and I really liked my sinker, too,” he said. “So, it was just understanding the numbers on when my sinker is at its best and that feeling that I have in my hand to match those numbers.”
Eflin said he considers himself more of a “feel” pitcher than one that delves into analytics, but given that he signed a $40 million deal, he said he felt “kind of obligated,” to study the information provided.
“Here, it’s like their own language. Once you’re caught up to speed on their language and you understand what their numbers mean and what they’re telling you and how to apply that to your bullpens and games, it just elevates everybody’s success,” Eflin said. “They clearly do so many good things with pitchers that they get in the system. I was kind of open-minded and ready to get to work when I got here.”
Zach Eflin’s Success is not surprising
It clearly has paid off for the 6-foot-6 right-hander who was a first-round pick out of high school by the San Diego Padres in 2012. Eflin ended the 2023 season with a 16-8 record and a career best ERA in a career-high 177 2/3 innings. He walked just 24 batters and struck out 186, another career high.
Those who have spent time around Eflin over the years are not surprised by what he’s accomplished this season for Tampa Bay.
Baltimore Orioles starter Kyle Gibson, who spent parts of two seasons as a Phillies teammate of Elfin’s and is one his best friends in the game, remembers being in Philadelphia’s dugout last year talking to superstar Bryce Harper, who had been rehabbing with Eflin in the minors.
“Harper said, ‘Man, when Eflin comes back, he’s gonna be a big shot for us. He’s one of the nastiest guys I’ve ever faced in live BPs,’” Gibson recalled. “However his delivery is, however his stuff plays, hitters don’t want to face him because it is a tricky at-bat. And then when you add in times when he is really locating, that’s what makes him special.”
Then there’s Eflin’s fierce drive to succeed daily, which he said is directly related to experiences from his youth, including the death of his seven-year-old sister, Ashley, who died of leukemia when Eflin was 1.
“I still live every single day of my life with that competitive spirit and, honestly, I try to live the life that my sister never had, never got the opportunity to live,” he said. “So, I try and be happy and joyful every single day and take it as a blessing to be able to go out there competing against the best in the world.”
He’s only been with the Rays for less than a year, but that humility and desire to get better is evident, Armstrong said.
“He’s a very good role model for the younger guys here. He doesn’t lead vocally. He leads by example, and I think in today’s game that says more than being vocal in the clubhouse,” Armstrong said. “The way he treats staff and players. and what he does on the mound speaks for itself. It’s incredible to have him here.”
Dan Connolly is an MLB Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.