Zach Eflin is someone the Baltimore Orioles look at to be a reliable starting pitcher for them all year ’round as they continue their quest to compete for a World Series title. While the start of the 2025 season hasn’t exactly gone swimmingly for the Orioles, they had an excellent game on Monday, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1 thanks to an impressive start from Eflin, who pitched six innings and allowed just one earned run on four hits.
Eflin, however, wasn’t having any trouble and presumably could have gone further in the game had it not for a bout against a shoulder issue that limited him to just 73 pitches on the night. The 31-year-old righty, as per the Orioles, was going through shoulder fatigue, which is a concern this early on in the season.
Nonetheless, Eflin isn’t too concerned about his shoulder and believes that the Orioles’ decision to limit his workload on the night is merely precautionary.
“Just fatigue. I think it was precautionary. Evaluate it tomorrow, see how I feel after sleeping tonight,” Eflin said, via MASN. “Currently, I’m pretty optimistic. But we’ll see how it feels tomorrow. Yeah [I’m pain-free].”
Nobody knows one’s body better than one’s self, so for Eflin to say that he doesn’t feel any pain is a good sign. Regardless, there is still worry that a more serious issue could be unearthed once he’s evaluated on Tuesday.
Whatever the case may be, the Orioles will need Eflin to be healthy; through three starts this year (18.0 innings of work), the 31-year-old has put up a solid ERA of 3.00. The lack of strikeouts is a concern, but regression to the mean for his strikeout value should mean that there is room for him to grow still as the season progresses, provided of course that he stays healthy.
Zach Eflin is emerging as the Orioles’ ace
Zach Eflin may not have the typical profile of an ace-caliber pitcher, but he has gotten the job done thus far for the Orioles this year, limiting the opposition to just six earned runs in 18 innings of work.
With the Orioles having lost Corbin Burnes over the offseason, there is a huge void atop the Baltimore starting rotation. There might still be a need for them to address their rotation later this season, but Eflin, thus far, is holding the fort, and his team needs him healthy especially considering how early it is in the season.