When Zach Eflin went down with another knee-related injury on June 25, it seemed improbable that Philadelphia Phillies would see him pitch again in 2022.
But now Eflin is back, and ready to contribute to another Phillies' postseason push in September. The right-hander hasn't started a game since June 25, and was limited to two innings of work during his rehab assignment with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Therefore, it remains to be seen whether Philadelphia will slot him into the rotation with Zack Wheeler still on the injured list, or place him in the bullpen as a long-relief guy. Either way, having another arm who can eat innings will be huge for the Phillies.
In order to make room for Eflin on the active roster, Philadelphia optioned Cristopher Sánchez to Triple-A. The 25-year-old struggled in his outing on Sunday following the three-hour rain delay, allowing four runs on seven hits across three innings against the Washington Nationals.
In more unfortunate news, the Phillies placed right-handed pitcher Mark Appel on the 60-day injured list with right elbow inflammation to make room for Eflin on the 40-man roster. It's a tough blow for the 31-year-old reliever, who was one of the more feel-good stories of the 2022 season, and made his long-awaited major league debut earlier this season.
Having Eflin back will be a major boon for the Phillies' pitching staff, and should take some pressure off of some of their harder-worked arms, but their depth has taken another hit with the loss of Appel.
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