PHILADELPHIA _ Say this for Zach Eflin: He has staked his claim to a spot in the Phillies' 2020 starting rotation.
Making his last start of the season Saturday night, Eflin scattered five hits through 7 2/3 innings before allowing a two-run home run on his 108th and final pitch of a 9-3 knee-slapper over the Miami Marlins. The victory guaranteed that the Phillies will finish with at least a .500 record for the first time since 2012, the year that Eflin was drafted by the San Diego Padres.
But the big right-hander's resurgence goes far beyond one start against the worst team in the National League. In six weeks since he returned to the rotation after a brief banishment to the bullpen, Eflin amassed a 2.78 ERA and separated himself from disappointing Nick Pivetta and erratic Vince Velasquez in the conversation about which of the Phillies' unproven starters deserves another chance next season.
"I think there's a fairly clear distinction, and that's not meant to be a knock on Vinny or on Nick," manager Gabe Kapler said before the game. "It's just, I think, Eflin has experienced more sustained success. I, personally, think that Eflin has established himself as a dependable piece of a major-league rotation."
If there was a pivot point in Eflin's season, it came last month when he decided to resume leaning on his sinker to induce weak contact early in counts rather than following pitching coach Chris Young's philosophy of elevating four-seam fastballs to get more swings and misses, a tactic that served only to tire out Eflin and cause him to mislocate pitches that turned into home runs and extra-base hits.
There will be some irony, then, if Eflin is back with the Phillies next season and Young is not.
Against the Marlins, the hardest-hit ball allowed by Eflin came on his 108th pitch, the most he'd thrown in a game since May 11. After using seven relievers over 11 shutout innings of a 15-inning victory Friday night, and with the Phillies planning to piece together Sunday's series finale with a crew of relievers, Kapler pushed Eflin to the brink. He responded by becoming the first Phillies starter to pitch into the eighth inning of a game since ace Aaron Nola on July 2 and didn't falter until Todd Walker's two-run homer in the eighth, by which time the Phillies had a 9-1 lead.
Cesar Hernandez hit a leadoff homer in the first inning against Marlins lefty Caleb Smith. Maikel Franco added a two-run shot in the second inning, while rookie catcher Deivi Grullon notched his first major-league hit with an RBI double in the third.
Bryce Harper belted a three-run homer in the sixth. It was Harper's 35th homer of the season, the second-most ever by a player in his first season with the Phillies after only Jim Thome's 47-homer debut in 2003.
With a victory in Sunday's season finale, the Phillies will finish with a winning record for the first time since 2011, the last year that they made the playoffs.
But the story, once again, was Eflin. With Grullon making only his second career start behind the plate, Eflin had as much say as ever in calling his own game. He threw 33 sinkers and only 10 four-seam fastballs, continuing his recent trend. In each of his starts since rejoining the rotation, Eflin has thrown more sinkers than four-seamers.
Eflin's revival isn't an aberration either. He was the Phillies' most consistent starter through mid-June. He posted a 2.83 ERA in his first 14 starts, prompting discussion of a possible All-Star nod. But he notched a 10.46 ERA through his next six starts, complaining of fatigue after a Fourth of July start in Atlanta and a "heavy body" after a July 20 start in Pittsburgh.
Looking back, perhaps the emphasis on fastballs was to blame.
Regardless, Eflin finished the season with a 4.13 ERA that wasn't too far off Nola's 3.87 mark.
"I think he's been dominant for longer stretches of time [than Pivetta and Velasquez]," Kapler said. "And the net of the [last] two seasons_the numbers combined_look like an established major leaguer."
