By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies have suffered another injury to their young pitching rotation. Following a three-inning effort in which he gave up seven runs, rookie right-hander Zach Eflin has been placed on the disabled list with tendon issues in both of his knees.
The Phillies have placed RHP Zach Eflin on the 15-day DL with patellar tendinopathy in both knees.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) August 9, 2016
Tendinopathy is an injury to the tendon, causing pain, inflammation, and limited movement. In a recap from last night's game, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia spoke to Eflin about his knees, something Pete Mackanin said have been sore from time to time, but no real indicator of a serious injury. It's something Eflin said he's dealt with during his entire career.
"It's more of a thing where sometimes it's a little worse, sometimes it's better than other days," Eflin said. "You kind of just wake up and see how you feel."
Eflin, 22, made his big league debut on June 14 in Toronto and struggled, but posted a 2.08 ERA over his next seven starts, which included two complete games. Acquired in the trade that sent Jimmy Rollins to the Dodgers at the end of 2014, Eflin has had a trio of rough outings, allowing 20 runs in his last 13 innings of work. In that time, his ERA has jumped from 3.40 to 5.54.
"I've remained mentally tough throughout my whole career," Eflin told reporters following Monday's loss. "I was brought up in a really good way by my father, realizing and looking at and analyzing situations and stuff. I'm pretty good on that. I really don't get too down on myself. I think about a loving family at home that are all healthy and safe, so I kind of look at it that way."
The two options for the Phillies on the 40-man roster to replace Eflin are Adam Morgan and David Buchanan. Morgan is 1-7 with a 6.65 ERA this season with the Phillies, but was recently named International League Pitcher of the Week. In two starts during the week of August 1-7, Morgan hurled 14.2 innings, allowed just two runs on six hits while piling up 17 strikeouts, 11 of which came in his most recent outing on Saturday night against Rochester. In five games since his demotion to the Ironpigs, Morgan is 5-0 with a 2.76 ERA.
Buchanan is 5-2 with a 2.94 ERA in his last 10 starts. He was named IL Pitcher of the Week for July 18-24.
