Weird watching Eflin get knocked around the last two games.
He's got good stuff, his 102nd pitch was 94 MPH.
His two seamer really moves, his curve ball has a nice break.
But his command comes and goes, and he really needs a better changeup, fastball/curve just doesn't cut it in the majors because a lot of hitters can pick up the rotation on the curve.
The changeup (and this holds for Eickhoff as well) makes it hard to sit on fastballs and it's tougher to pick up than a curve so you get more swings at pitches out of the K-zone.
The best pitch is the hard slider but few pitchers throw that anymore (they throw this crappy "back door slider" but I'm talking the Carlton special!).
Get all three pitches going and he'll be tough to hit.
What I see with these young pitchers (Eflin, Velasquez, Pivetta) are guys with great stuff who probably need another year or two to refine it.
That's what makes Nola special, if he's really building up arm strength to 93-94 (his first 3 innings last start) he can be a #1 down the road because of his great command.
But they're starting to fill up a stable with live arms, with Kilome and Sanchez on the way, and Gowdy and Fanti as the lefty change of pace guys.