By: Brandon Apter, contributor 
The Phillies Triple-A rotation is a dangerous one, armed with three top prospects, Zach Eflin, Jake Thompson and Mark Appel. Through nearly two turns into the rotation, Zach Eflin has looked stellar, rebounding nicely from the pounding he got during the Futures Game with the Phillies in Reading. The Phillies 13th overall prospect, per MLB Pipeline, has been named International League Pitcher of the Week.
International League Players of the Week – SS Trea Turner (@SyracuseChiefs) & RHP Zach Eflin (@IronPigs): https://t.co/yIECE0hHNj
— Triple-A Baseball (@TripleABaseball) April 18, 2016
Eflin, 22, was acquired by the Phillies on December 19th, 2014 in the trade that sent Jimmy Rollins to the Dodgers. Since then, the 6-foot-6 right-hander has become one of the more intriguing prospects within the organization and this year, he's off to quite a start. He's started two games for Triple-A Lehigh Valley thus far, both against the Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A Twins affiliate. He tossed six innings of five-hit, one-run ball against them back on April 12th in his first start of the year, a 6-1 win for the Ironpigs, before spinning eight shutout innings against them on Sunday afternoon at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown. Eflin scattered just two hits and struck out nine Red Wings hitters, lowering his ERA to 0.64 through two starts. He faced just one batter over the minimum in his longest start since May 23rd of last season, when he went 8.2 innings for Double-A Reading.
"How I go into a game is really attacking the strike zone, force weak contact, and I think I did a good job of that today with all four pitches," Eflin said after earning his second win in two starts. "I was really in command of the zone, and I need to establish that so I can go longer into games and get quick innings." [MiLB.com]
Though Eflin dazzled over eight scoreless frames, it wasn't until the seventh that he got some run support in the form of a two-run homer from outfielder Cam Perkins, breaking the 0-0 tie. Eflin allowed a lead-off single in the third, which was erased by a double play, then retired the next 17 batters he faced.
"When Cam Perkins hit the two-run home run, I felt like that was all we needed, especially with Edward Mujica coming in behind me," he said. "I really felt like we had the game locked." [MiLB.com]
The Ironpigs added an insurance run in the eighth inning of Sunday's game. Darnell Sweeney hit a lead-off double and came around to score two batters later on a wild pitch.
Eflin, selected in the first round of the 2012 draft by San Diego, should get his next start on either Thursday against Syracuse or Friday night in Pawtucket.
