Eflin: “I’ve heard nothing but incredible things about this locker room"

Zach Eflin wasn’t ignorant to the trade rumors. He heard and read them. His soon-to-be former club kept him informed.

Eflin was in the know and on a flight to Baltimore.

This morning’s media clubhouse access allowed for introductions as Eflin stood in front of the locker that belonged to injured pitcher John Means. He already met his new teammates and threw a bullpen session. He expects to start Game 1 of Monday’s doubleheader against the Blue Jays at Camden Yards.

“Super excited and just grateful for the opportunity,” he said. “I’ve heard nothing but incredible things about this locker room and, obviously, playing against them the last year and a half you see the youth and how much the guys care about each other and how hard they play. It’s something that we’ve always admired over in Tampa, so it’s really exciting to be in this position and be able to play with these guys.”

The Orioles sent minor leaguers Jackson Baumeister, Mac Horvath and Matthew Etzel to the Rays for Eflin, who finished sixth last year in American League Cy Young voting. Eflin is under contract for $18 million next season and the Rays decided to shop him.

“I was fully prepared,” he said. “I kind of knew something was going to go down, really all dependent on how we played the last couple weeks in Tampa. But I was kept in the loop about everything, something that I really respect with the Rays organization. They kept me in the loop about what was going to happen and whatnot, and ended up in a great landing spot.”

The Rays begin today in fourth place in the division at 53-52. They maintained their seller stance this morning by trading reliever Jason Adam to the Padres for highly touted prospects Dylan Lesko, Homer Bush Jr. and J.D. Gonzalez.

Eflin has made a substantial leap in the standings.

“You honestly dream of opportunities like this, to be able to be the team in first place and battling it out with another team, and coming fresh off the division title,” said Eflin, who already knew Ryan Mountcastle, Cole Irvin and Seranthony Domínguez prior to his arrival.

“It’s something that (the Rays) were in a huge race with him last year and we weren’t able to get it, but winning baseball, competitive baseball, high-energy baseball is what you always dream of as a player.”

The Orioles can slot Eflin behind Grayson Rodriguez as their third starter in the postseason, assuming they get there, but they remain in the market for another rotation piece. He was 16-8 with a 3.50 ERA and 1.024 WHIP last summer in 31 games and will bring a 4.09 ERA and 1.164 WHIP into Monday’s doubleheader.

Eflin has allowed two earned runs or fewer in nine starts and has completed the sixth inning nine times. He’s averaged fewer than two walks per nine innings in his career.

“I honestly just hate walks. I hate giving people a free pass,” he said.

“I feel like I’m not a competitor when I do that. And with that being said, I think there is still room for me to expand a little more and be able to work outside the strike zone a little bit more. But it really comes down to I don’t like giving in to guys and letting them just take first base.”

What Eflin can bring to the organization is “consistency, health, being able to pitch deep into games,” he said.

“Feed off each other, learn from as many guys as possible and just be as much of a competitor as I can be.”

Adley Rutschman or James McCann will set the target for Eflin on Monday. He doesn’t expect any complications in developing a working relationship on such short notice.

“I feel like I’m pretty easy to catch, honestly,” he said. “I have a lot of conviction with catchers and what they call. As long as I execute a pitch, I firmly believe I’m going to get a good result. I don’t think there’s going to be a learning curve or any sort of thing like that.

“I’m looking forward to working with those two guys. They’re unbelievable catchers and extremely smart, so it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Eflin has been traded three times and knows the drill. He was with the Dodgers for one day before they flipped him to the Phillies in December 2014.

“It’s been a little crazy,” he said of his latest experience. “When I first found out I was super excited coming here, and then you realize, we opened after the All-Star break on the road and I got one day home with my kids and then I was back on the road again. So it was a little bittersweet, but ultimately coming here and meeting all the guys and understanding that I have a future here is huge. Looking forward to getting my family up here to be with me.”

His wife, Lauren, hopped on a flight this morning. They have three daughters under 2 ½ years old, including 1 ½-year-old twins. And a fourth child is on the way.

“We’re all really excited,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say it’s easy, by any means, but at the end of the day this is what we signed up for. It’s a business. I’m extremely grateful to be in a position that I’m in right now to play here with all these guys on such a good young-core team and be able to have a chance to go really deep in the playoffs. As hard as it can be, it’s very rewarding at the same time.”

The Orioles are hoping to reap the rewards of Friday’s deal.

Pitching coach Drew French talked about Eflin’s pitchability, six-pitch arsenal, command to fill quadrants of the zone and diversity.

“He’s got a lot of tricks and he’s got a lot of ability,” French said, “so we’re really excited to see him go tomorrow.”

French got on the phone with Eflin the night of the trade to let him know what the club was thinking and check his travel and bullpen plans.

“There’s a lot to learn but we’ll learn as he goes,” French said. “The communication aspect will be huge.”

The Orioles aren’t listing any of their starters for the four-game series against Toronto.