Zach Eflin's Major League Debut with the Phillies Was Not How He Pictured It
When Zach Eflin got the call last week that he was being promoted up to the bigs, he apparently called his pops 9 times before the call was finally picked up on the 10th try. I couldn’t imagine that call to my dad. Tears of joy coming out of my eyes, voice cracking, while my parents start scrambling to purchase the next flight out Philly to come watch me play. Behind a booze fueled interview courtesy of the legend himself, Larry Anderson, that call must be the most surreal feeling any son can have.
What isn’t a great feeling however, is when you show up for said debut and this happens.
Zach Eflin finished with a Game Score of 5 in his big-league debut. that's the sixth-worst debut mark in recorded baseball history
— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) June 14, 2016
A pitcher starts with a game score of 50 before the first pitch is even thrown, so to have a game score of 5 means that your lucky you don’t have to face the Toronto Blue Jays for at least the next couple years. Eflin, who recently turned 22, was part of the Jimmy Rollins to LA deal back in 2014. He was putting up great numbers in AAA (2.90 ERA,.87 WHIP in
11 Starts) however, he had given up 10 ER over his last 15 2/3 IP. With Velasquez going on the DL and with the lack of veteran pitching at the minor league level to make a few spot starts, the Phillies hands were tied and the Eflin call up was inevitable.
I thought Eflin looked great on a few early sliders he threw to Bautista and Encarnacion, Other than that, the fastball topping out at 94 PMH was flat, left out over the middle of plate way too much, and the his change had no command. All this against a lineup that you can’t make mistakes to is not a recipe for success in your ML debut. But hey, at least he is in good spirits.
"It still was a dream come true," Zach Eflin said. "I was out there in front of 50,000 people playing the game I love." He'll start Sunday.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) June 14, 2016
Phillies Notes:
The Phillies are 16-9 when they score 3 or more runs. They are 4-17 when they score 2 or less.
In the 30 games they have won, Phillies pitchers have an ERA of 1.05. In the 35 loses, 7.87
Through May 29, Jeanmar Gomez and Hector Neris allowed 11 ER over 55 IP. Since May 30th, 9 ER over their last 11 IP.
Ryan Howard is no longer the starting first basemen. That job now belongs to Tommy Joseph whose 7 home runs in his first 21+ games is a Phillies record.
AA Reading Phillies have the most wins in Pro Baseball with 46. OF Dylan Cozens with 19 and 1B Rys Hoskins with 17 lead are 1st and 2nd in the Eastern League in Home Runs.
Top Prospect and a key piece in the Cole Hamels deal, Jorge Alfaro has 3 walks in 168 Plate appearances. His .017 BB/PA and .08 BB/K ratio is cause for concern.
Cast your vote for Odubel Herrera 35 total times over the next 7 days for the MLB All Star Game. His singles up the middle and resulting bat flip deserves a spot on the NL roster.