Key Highlights
- Re-signing Zach Eflin is a curious way to do it. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn its own, this move does not make the Orioles better, but it makes them safer. Eflin’s 2025 season was uneven and short.
- He went 6-5 with a 5.93 ERA in 14 starts, limited to 71.1 innings as recurring back issues eventually led to a lumbar microdiscectomy and an early shutdown.
- That version of Eflin is not an upgrade. But that is not the version Baltimore is buying. The Orioles are betting on the 2024 version, when Eflin delivered 165.1 innings with a 3.59 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP.
- That season provided exactly what Baltimore lacked at times last year: predictable innings from a starter who does not need everything to break right to be useful. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn that sense, re-signing Eflin stabilizes the rotation.
- It protects Baltimore from depth erosion and prevents April from turning into a scramble.
