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Pitcher List on Rotographs: Zach Eflin Is Throwing Harder, So What?

Nick Pollack dives into the impact of Zach Eflin's improved velocity.

(Photo by Steve Nurenberg/Icon Sportswire)

I’m writing about starting pitching for Rotographs and didn’t want the Pitcher List community to miss out on one of our signature GIF Breakdowns.

I love when pitchers add velocity. “Did you hear? Alex Wood is now pumping 94mph!” analysts whisper on Twitter. Crowds gather, eyes piercing a pitcher throwing a fastball that pounds a catcher’s mitt behind a failed swing. The excitement is captivating and calls for everyone’s attention as hype trains leave stations in droves.

This is the fun in fantasy baseball and Zach Eflin is the latest pitcher to get the spotlight. After failed 2016 and 2017 seasons that were so ghastly I feel guilty sharing them with you (5.54 ERA and 6.16 ERA, respectively), Eflin has had a pair of successful starts to launch his 2018 campaign, holding an impressive 0.71 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 27.7% K rate, and 6.4% BB rate in the minuscule 12.2 IP sample. The real story, though, is how he’s bumped his four-seamer’s velocity from the previous 93.5mph mark to 95.5mph this season:

Alright, Zach Eflin has increased his fastball velocity by two ticks. So what?

Read the rest of this article on RotoGraphs.

Nick Pollack

Founder of Pitcher List. Creator of CSW, The List, and SP Roundup. Worked with MSG, FanGraphs, CBS Sports, and Washington Post. Former college pitcher, travel coach, pitching coach, and Brandeis alum. Wants every pitcher to be dope.

2 responses to “Pitcher List on Rotographs: Zach Eflin Is Throwing Harder, So What?”

  1. Tre says:

    Your link leads to your Cahill article

  2. Marv says:

    Nick,

    Only stumbled on this site about a month before season opener but all I can echo is what everyone has been already saying in the comments, awesome job with this site. I’m pretty specific with the sites I trust and I go to for information and this is now one of my favorites I visit, great stuff.

    A bit of a long one but I trust your advice as the main goal is to strengthen my Pitching.
    I’m in a 12 team H2H cat league with balanced stats: HIT (R, H, HR, RBI, SB, BB, AVG, OPS, XBH) PIT (W, CG, SV, K, GIDP, ERA, WHIP, QS)

    We’re allowed a max of 3 moves per year (no streaming) and the league is pretty competitive. In the past 5 years of Regular season I’ve finished first overall each year but playoffs are another story (mix bag of finishes).

    I’ve been in constant trade talks with two managers each wanting different pieces of my team. I would like to strengthen my pitching a bit and a like to trade in general.

    Team 1 is offering:
    My Arenado & Walker Buehler for His L. Severino, C. Morton and J. Schoop
    Team 2 is offering:
    My M.Haniger, C. Yelich and J. Quintana for His A. Rendon, S. Marte and J. Martinez

    These are their first offers and I’m going to counter with:

    Team 1 (My offer)
    My Arenado, Walker Buehler, T. Anderson, M. Minor, W. Ramos for his W. Contreras, A. Judge, L. Severino, C. Morton
    (the guys is in love with Arenado so I think I could convince him to add Judge here)
    Team 2 (My offer)
    My C. Yelich, J. Quintana, T. Mancini for his A. Rendon, S. Marte, J. Martinez

    My current team below

    I love Arenado as well (he’s my number one guy) but I figure I have the 3B to spare (especially if I acquire Rendon and this will beef up my Pitching, thoughts ?

    C – W. Ramos
    1B – P. Goldscmidt
    2B – B. Dozier
    3B – N. Arenado
    SS – T. Turner
    MI – X. Bogearts
    CI – E. Suarez
    LF- N. Mazara
    CF – C. Blackmon
    RF – M. Haniger
    Util – C. Yelich
    BN – T. Anderson
    BN – T. Mancini
    BN – Nick Senzel (NA)
    DL – J. turner
    SP – J. Paxton
    SP – J. Verlander
    SP – C. Carrasco
    RP – H. Strickland
    RP – M. Minor
    P – J. Quintana
    P – W. Buehler
    BN – J. Junis
    BN – M .Kopech (NA)
    BN – L. Gohara
    DL – D. Salazar

    thanks in advance.
    Marv

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