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Since being swept by the Rangers in the AL Division Series, all eyes have been on the Orioles’ pitching staff.
Pleas for an ace were answered with the offseason acquisition of former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes. But what should have been a formidable Orioles rotation anchored by their new ace has been riddled with season-ending injuries.
In a tight race with the Yankees for the AL East, the Orioles brought nine new players into the organization at the trade deadline — none more impactful than Zach Eflin.
Acquired from the Rays just days before the trade deadline, Eflin has been exactly the type of pitcher Baltimore desperately needed and then some. Since making his Orioles debut on July 29, the 30-year-old right-hander has been dominant.
Eflin has delivered three straight quality starts for the Orioles, pitching 19 ⅓ innings with a 2.33 ERA while striking out 17 batters and walking just two.
Pitching against his former team, Eflin delivered one of the best starts by an Orioles pitcher this season. He threw a 94-pitch gem in Baltimore’s series-opening win against Tampa Bay on Friday, recording a season high-tying seven strikeouts and yielding only four hits and one walk over seven scoreless innings, also tying a season-high.
“That’s so good right there,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said of Eflin’s outing, per Roch Kubatko of MASN. “A little extra motivation pitching against a team that you were just with, and he’s made three outstanding starts for us. That was textbook pitching.”
In what Eflin called an “out-of-body experience,” he became the third Oriole to win each of his first three starts, joining Kyle Gibson in 2023 and Jack Harshman in 1958. He is also the fourth Orioles starter this season to toss seven scoreless innings, and he’s the only one still pitching for them.
“He’s one of those, I say old school pitchers, in the sense that he’s pitching to both sides of the plate with all of his pitches,” said James McCann, who has caught Eflin in each of his first three Orioles starts. “He’s pitching, he’s not gripping and ripping as hard as he can. And he has a really good idea of what he’s trying to do and he makes adjustments quickly. It’s a lot of fun to catch guys like that.”
Eflin said after arriving in Baltimore that he hoped to bring “consistency and health” to the Orioles rotation. Considering how banged up the Baltimore rotation has been, even more so now with Grayson Rodriguez on the injured list, Eflin has delivered.
Now back in sole possession of first place in the AL East, Baltimore is hopeful that Eflin, along with his 15 ⅔ innings of postseason experience, can aid in its bid for the franchise’s fourth World Series title.
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