Phillies: Three players who could make or break the 2020 season

Philadelphia Phillies fans know Zach Eflin needs to have a breakout season.

Zach Eflin is going to be a pretty significant piece for the Phillies in 2020, to say the least. The starting rotation is one of the biggest concerns for the team heading into this season. Aaron Nola is the bonafide ace. Despite not having an amazing 2019 season, he still did fairly well. He’ll be looking to bounce back and return to his Cy Young form from 2018. Regardless of whether you think Zack Wheeler was overpaid or not, he is the number two starter they needed and can keep his teams in the game even if he doesn’t have a great performance.

After those two guys, there are a lot of questions. The fifth and final spot is up for grabs between Vince Velasquez, Nick Pivetta, Ranger Suarez, and maybe even Spencer Howard. Jake Arrieta is trying to bounce back from yet another injury and hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations when he’s been on the mound. Eflin will likely compete with Arrieta for the third spot in the rotation.

It’s safe to say Eflin has had an up and down career. His first two seasons were definitely impacted by injuries and it was evident when he was on the mound. Each of his four seasons has looked promising at the start and then falters as the year moves along. In 2018, his ERA was as low as 2.97 to start July and then he finished the season at 4.36. In 2019, it was 2.81 in mid-June and then 4.13 by the end of the season.

To Eflin’s credit, he has steadily improved over his first four major league seasons, and he’s done that with three different pitching coaches over that span. That’s not as easy as it might sound. Bringing in Bryan Price should only help with that.