Only 319 days ago, Zach Eflin was the Baltimore Orioles Opening Day starter against the Toronto Blue Jays.
In that game, Eflin threw six innings of two hit ball, only allowing two earned runs while recording his first win of the season.
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Following his season debut, Eflin pitched to the tune of a 3.00 ERA over 12.0 innings in his second and third appearances.
Unfortunately for Eflin, everything would start to crumble from there.
In April 8, 2025, Eflin was placed on the 15-day injured list after suffering a low-grade lat strain, causing the pitcher to miss over a month of action.
Eflin returned to the mound on May 11, 2025, against the Los Angeles Angels where he posted five innings of two run ball, giving Baltimore fans hope that their ace would return to his usual form — however, that was not the case.
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Baltimore Orioles Starting Pitcher Zach Eflin (24) | © John Jones-Imagn Images
Eflin’s next eight appearances would be extremely poor, as he posted an abysmal 7.62 ERA in 39.0 innings over eight appearances, which was second worst amongst starting pitchers over that time.
Eflin had a difficult time keeping the ball inside the park as he allowed 14 home-runs over that eight game sample size. His 11.7% strikeout to walk percentage over that period was an indicator that Eflin was still battling injury, as his calling card over his career has been not allowing free base runners.
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Following that stretch or poor play, Eflin would once again be placed on the 15-day injured list with lower back discomfort on approximately June 30, 2025.
Eflin would return to action on July 23, 2025, and would look…better. He would make two starts that month, posting a 5.79 ERA over 9.1 innings of work.
Unfortunately for Eflin, he would not be able to overcome the injury bug, as he was once again placed on the 15-day injured list with lower back discomfort on July 31, 2025. Eflin would not be able to return to the mound as he had to get a season-ending lumbar microdiscectomy in August 2025.
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Eflin finished his 2025 campaign with a 5.93 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and a -0.4 WAR over 71.1 innings pitched.
However, Baltimore’s President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias saw what other teams didn’t in Eflin — a veteran starting pitcher who is dedicated to making a comeback.
On December 29, 2025, Eflin would sign a one-year, $10 million dollar contract to return to Baltimore.
This contract includes a few performance based escalators, such as a $1 million bonus if he makes 15+ starts, $1.5 million bonus if he makes 20+ starts, and a $2.5 million bonus  if he makes 25+ starts.
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Eflin could very well have a bounce-back season for Baltimore, as his 85th percentile off speed run value, 32.1% chase rate and 4.2% walk-rate indicate that Eflin still has strong breaking ball stuff.
Prior to the 2025 season, Eflin was one of Baltimore’s BEST starting pitchers. He was Baltimore’s number two option behind Corbin Burnes — a role he played extremely well.
Eflin was traded to Baltimore on July 26, 2024, for minor league prospects Mac Horvath, Jackson Baumeister and Matthew Etzel.
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The veteran immediately made an impact for Baltimore, posting a stellar 2.60 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP and a 1.7 WAR over 55.1 innings.
Eflin has logged 126.2 innings with a 4.48 ERA and 97 strikeouts in his Baltimore tenure, but still possesses the veteran leadership and pitching capabilities to be a solid starting option for 2026.
Eflin is expected to make a full recovery from his lumbar microdiscectomy, and is expected to be back on the mound sometime during Spring Training which starts in 11 days.