Baltimore Orioles Starting Pitcher Reveals Massive Injury Update

With the Baltimore Orioles desperately needing their starting pitchers to get healthy, they have gotten an important update on one of their stars.

Aug 15, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Zach Eflin (24) delivers in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards / Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

It's really remarkable that the Baltimore Orioles are 20 games above .500 entering Thursday considering all the injuries their starting rotation has dealt with.

Three have been sidelined for the year since the first half because of season-ending elbow surgery, Grayson Rodriguez is on the IL after suffering a lat injury, and their trade deadline addition of Zach Eflin joined him just recently with shoulder inflammation.

Corbin Burnes is the only starter from the beginning of the year still standing, and after the Orioles decided to option their other deadline acquisition Trevor Rogers to the minors, this unit is holding on by a thread.

They need their starters to get healthy and return before they get into the playoffs.

As it relates to Eflin, they got some positive news on that front.

Roch Kubatko of MASN reported that the right-hander said his shoulder feels "10 times better" than it did just a few days ago. He isn't focused on going on a rehab assignment, instead feeling confident he can jump right back into the mix when he's eligible to return on Sept. 2.

"It was more so kind of like lingering tightness, some inflammation that didn’t really go down as much as I had hoped it would in between starts. So it doesn’t feel like a red flag to me or anything. More so just didn’t have enough time to completely heal before going back out the," he said per Kubatko.

That is huge for Baltimore.

Since coming over from the Tampa Bay Rays, Eflin has been exactly what they were looking for by recording a 2.13 ERA across his four starts.

If he's able to return and perform at that same level, then the Orioles will be able to have a solid one-two punch with Burnes and Eflin at the top of their rotation.

This will continue to be something to monitor, but as it stands right now, he should be back for the final month of the season.