Eflin will stick in the rotation for the time being after the pitcher he replaced, Ben Lively (back), was activated from the 10-day disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Wednesday, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.
Eflin made it an easy decision for the Phillies to choose him over Lively (0-2, 6.85 ERA in five starts) after recording a 0.71 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 13:3 K:BB through his first two outings with the big club. It's worth noting that both of those turns came against weak offenses in the Marlins and Giants, but the right-hander nonetheless seems to have exhibited legitimate skills growth after struggling mightily across 22 starts in the big leagues the past two seasons. As Zolecki notes, Eflin's four-seam fastball is up to 94.4 miles per hour this season -- a gain of one and a half ticks from 2017 -- and was instrumental in generating a career-high 14 swinging strikes in his last outing Monday against the Giants. Eflin gets a tougher draw at home against the Mets in his next scheduled start Saturday, and he'll likely need to keep delivering serviceable outings if he's to maintain a rotation spot once Jerad Eickhoff (lat) is ready to come off the 10-day disabled list later this month.