Zach Eflin Injury: Strikes out five in FCL start

Eflin (back) struck out five and allowed five unearned runs on three hits and one walk over four innings in a rehab start Thursday in the rookie-level Florida Complex League.

The appearance in the FCL was the second of Eflin's rehab assignment, which he kicked off last Sunday with a four-inning, 58-pitch outing for Double-A Chesapeake. He tacked on an additional 10 pitches to his workload Thursday, then said Friday that he feels good physically and believes he's ready to return from the 15-day injured list, according to Jake Rill of MLB.com. If the Orioles concur with Eflin's assessment of his health, he could step back into the big-league rotation for Wednesday's game in Cleveland.