Zach Eflin says his body feels ‘heavy’ after getting peppered by Pirates, but he does not know why

PITTSBURGH - Zach Eflin needed just 25 pitches on Saturday night to retire six of the first seven batters he faced. He then started the third inning with his third strikeout. Eflin, after two rough outings, seemed prime for a good night against the Pirates at PNC Park.

But then his body, Eflin said, began to “feel heavy.”

“There’s really no explanation for it,” Eflin said when asked to explain what he meant by “heavy.” “You know sometimes you feel like you hit a brick wall, sometimes you wake up you don’t feel great. Right now it’s one of those things where I’m kind of searching what’s best for me, what’s going to work for me. So come back in a couple of days, throw a good bullpen and go from there.”

The righthander was peppered in the third inning for three runs in an eventual 5-1 loss to the Pirates. He was lifted after just one more inning. Eflin started the season with an 2.83 ERA in his first 14 starts, but has a 9.38 ERA in his last five. Something does not seem right

“It’s felt heavy for a little bit but everybody feels heavy, you know,” Eflin said. “It’s something you go through during a season. It’s nothing that prevents me from throwing a baseball or anything, it’s just making adjustments to my routine or the way I prep, but in no way shape or form does it affect me throwing the baseball.”

Eflin had a 3.57 ERA last season in his first 16 starts, but faded down the stretch and finished with a 6.27 ERA in his final eight starts. It was the longest season of his career and Eflin seemed fatigued. He battled fatigue two starts ago after a long first-inning at-bat. He had surgery two years ago to alleviate chronic knee pain, but said the issue he is feeling now “has nothing to do with health.”

Manager Gabe Kapler offered the heavy-explanation when he was asked what happened to Eflin in the third inning.

“Zach’s body is feeling a little bit heavy right now and his stuff is just getting a little bit lighter than it was earlier in the season,” Kapler said. “I think that’s something we have to pay attention to and get his body to feel energetic and moving towards the plate with intensity all the way through his outing.”

“It could be a number of things. It could be mechanics, sometimes. It could be some fatigue, sometimes. But that’s something I want to dig into with Zach and our training staff and give him the best chance to have success by having that conversation.”