“Eflin was just outstanding. I leaned over to Rob Thompson in the middle of the game that, ‘Nothing rattles him. It doesn’t matter who it is.’
Those were the words of manager Gabe Kapler, on the arise of Zach Eflin. The 24-year-old doesn’t necessarily strike people as an “ace” or a game changer to a starting rotation, but he’s certainly made a couple of heads turn over the course of this month. Playing five games, Eflin rose to the occasion, winning all five and in fine fashion.
Statistically, Eflin looked as sharp as ever. With an ERA of 1.76 (5th best in MLB), overperforming his xFIP by 1.66 (1.95 FIP, 5th best in MLB), and holding batters to an average of .214, the man shut down the biggest of bats. He’s also averaged 8.77 strikeouts per 9 innings and maintained a WHIP of less than 1.00. When you play the Cubs, Brewers (twice), Nationals, and Yankees, you’ll need all of your stuff, especially when you go up against big names like Giancarlo Stanton, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rizzo (etc.).
If there’s anything Eflin has developed over the course of this month, it’s his slider and changeup. In the month of May, he only used his curveball 8% of the time and same with his changeup. Not being 100% healthy and lacking confidence obviously plays a role into that, but you weren’t necessarily wrong if you said Eflin relied heavily on his fastball and threw in his slider if he was ahead in the count. In June, however, we saw dramatic effectiveness of his slider and changeup, even if he threw it less. As the velocity of his fastball increased, he started to throw more offspeed pitches, which made his stuff more deceptive. It reached a point where he saw himself use his curveball less, but don’t let that make you think his curve isn’t effective. If he gets ahead in the count, his ball placement and variety of pitches he has up his sleeve can rattle a batter. Keeping the ball low, Eflin doesn’t always have to work a batter into getting a strikeout. 42.2% of balls that were put in play were ground balls, where he can rely on the infield to make the routine play.
To say his influence was big is an understatement. Four of his five wins came in games where the Phillies lost in the previous game. Taking Eflin’s starts out of consideration, the Phillies had a poor 8-14 record in the month of June. Finishing a month six games below .500 can really hurt one’s playoff chances, especially considering how close the NL East has been so far this season. Should he continue performing as well as he has, the struggling bullpen can get rest from time to time, and then come into games energized. Getting into that summer stretch where playoff contenders either crumble or rise to the occasion, that can make the difference.
Quote and image via NBCSPhilly.com
Stats via FanGraphs.com
PHINoah 