A variety of questions have emerged regarding the availability of several Phillies starting pitchers in the early days of the team’s summer camp. Storylines including Aaron Nola’s mysterious early absence, Zack Wheeler’s plans for the impending birth of his first-born child scheduled for later this month, and the battle for the No. 5 spot have grabbed the bulk of attention.

Another question mark was added to the mix on Saturday when Phillies manager Joe Girardi told reporters that Zach Eflin is battling back spasms.

However, like those other early concerns, the Phillies appear to set to receive a favorable outcome. Eflin, who has been slowed in recent days with the spasms, met with reporters via Zoom on Sunday afternoon, expressing optimism about his readiness for the season.

“So it had happened about five or six days ago. I was doing a workout and felt some discomfort in my lower left back area, and it kind of locked up on me, and it resulted in some spasms,” he said. “My whole back just locked up and it was kind of tough to get around, but the good thing with spasms, you know, it can be just a couple day thing, so right now we’re just day to day. I’m feeling night and day better than I did six days ago.”

Despite dealing with the lingering effects, Eflin, who is penciled in as the Phillies’ No. 4 starter, has been getting in some work.


“It’s progressively gotten better every single day,” he said. “I’ve been able to throw and do PFPs (pitchers’ fielding practice) and everything with everyone else these past two days, so I’m looking forward to getting back on the mound and getting ready.”

Eflin, who stayed in shape throughout a prolonged quarantine by regularly throwing twice a week, said he worked his way up to roughly 70 pitches. He expects to throw a bullpen in the next day or two before facing live hitters for the first time in camp, presumably some time later this week.

Either way, he remains confident he will be ready when the games start in less than two weeks.

“I don’t think it’s a setback whatsoever, whenever my name is called, I’m going to be ready to go and throw as long as I can,” Eflin said. “There’s not any worry there, so I’m just looking forward to getting back out there and being with the boys.”

That would be good news for the Phillies, particularly if they get the Eflin who closed the 2019 season with an impressive August and September.

Following early-season bouts of inconsistency and a simply disastrous July in which he pitched to an 11.88 ERA and was bumped from the rotation, Eflin recovered with a 2.83 ERA and 1.19 WHIP while holding opposing hitters to a .239 average and .685 OPS over his final seven starts.

Notably, the 26-year-old has publicly lamented the previous coaching staff’s insistence he consistently elevate his fastball in an effort to miss more bats. While never comfortable with the approach, he did, at times, have success with it:

https://twitter.com/AugustineMLB/status/1125381363975299075?s=20

In fact, Eflin’s K/9 numbers spiked in the first half of 2019. Here’s a look at the numbers by month:

  • March/April: 6.69 K/9
  • May: 7.34 K/9
  • June: 8.33 K/9
  • July: 7.56 K/9

But that approach also yielded plenty of hard contact, particularly in that ill-fated July.

By adopting a renewed focus on staying down in the zone during the stretch run, Eflin’s strikeout numbers dropped considerably in August (5.65 K/9) and September (6.62 K/9), but he was far more efficient and effective.

Now comfortable and confident in his plan, the Phillies are hoping he can replicate one of those hot streaks for roughly 12 starts in 2020.