Talk:Zach Eflin/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: Kncny11 (talk · contribs) 20:01, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

I'm yoinking this one! Fun fact: I actually saw Eflin's MLB debut when I was on vacation in Toronto! Poor kid looked terrified.

Anyway, any section marked with a tag means that I haven't finished combing through it yet, but feel free to address issues as they come up!  Kncny11  (shoot) 20:01, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Brilliant! I'm around for the next few days and am happy to be responsive to any issues you identify, of which I'm sure there are a few ... it's been a couple years since I've run anything through GA, so I may well have forgotten a few things. Thanks for taking this on.  Go  Phightins  !  20:32, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

Infobox and lede
✅ Will address Christian bit in personal life section  Go  Phightins  !  00:51, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Eflin made his MLB debut with the Phillies in 2016 and bounced between the major league and minor league levels before landing at the major league level permanently beginning in 2019, at which point he became an anchor of the Phillies' starting rotation. Split into two sentences.
 * Add one more sentence on his pitching style to fill out the lede
 * The lede says that Eflin is a Christian, but this isn't directly stated in the body. The closest is a reference to his grandfather being a pastor.

Early life

 * "Born with three older sisters, one of them—Ashley—died of leukemia at age seven, and thereafter, his family situation began to unravel." "When his older sister Ashley died of leukemia at age seven, his family situation began to unravel."
 * "Through high school, he" "Across his high school career, Eflin"
 * "Eflin signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) to attend UCF on a college baseball scholarship before ultimately signing with the San Diego Padres after being drafted." "Although Eflin signed a ... he ultimately signed with the San Diego Padres after being drafted."

✅ (all)  Go  Phightins  !  00:50, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

San Diego Padres

 * "with a record of 0–1 with a 7.71 ERA" "with a record of 0–1 and a 7.71 ERA" (minimize repetition of "with")
 * More clarification requested on mono -- did he miss games, or was he just battling through it?
 * introduce the term "win-loss record" in the first paragraph rather than the second
 * Reference [12] should link to here, which is Law's original report.

✅ all except changing the Law reference. Since ESPN Insider is behind a paywall, I thought it best to keep to a freely available source that summarizes it. That link is in the article I linked, though, if someone really wants to look it up.  Go  Phightins  !  00:51, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

Phillies prospect

 * Switch the first two sentences (with other changes as needed) to make it easier to follow that Eflin went to the Dodgers for one day and then the Phillies
 * Make sure to place commas and periods outside of quotes if they do not appear in the quote, as per MOS:LQ.
 * "with an 8–6 record with a 3.69 ERA" "with an 8–6 record, 3.69 ERA, and" (eliminate repetition of with)
 * Can you find any specific stats from his time in the Pan-Am games?
 * The only stats that seem to exist are archived box scores. It appears he made two not-particularly-distinguished starts. Seems not worth adding?

✅
 * Does it specify why Buchholz was taken out of the rotation?
 * The Clearwater Threshers are never formally introduced
 * Comma after "GCL Phillies"

Phillies major league starter
✅ up to this point
 * Need a source to say that he returned to the majors by April
 * Replace hyphen with en dash for his 10–13 2019 record
 * In 2019 with the Phillies, Eflin was 10-13 with a 4.13 ERA, as in 32 games (28 starts) he pitched two complete games (leading the National League) and one shutout over ​163 1⁄3 innings in which he gave up 28 home runs (8th). This sentence is veeeeeeery long as is and can probably be broken up into at least two.
 * "to try to be a power pitcher, trying to overpower hitters" "to try to be a power pitcher, overpowering hitters" (eliminate repetition of "try(ing)")
 * Pipe all-star to MLB All-Star Game
 * "Although the approach initially showed signs of success—early in the 2019 season, there was speculation he could be an all-star candidate—he eventually began to struggle before suffering an injury midway through the season." "Although this approach showed initial signs of success, leading to speculation that Eflin could be an All-Star candidate, he began to struggle before an injury put a premature end to his season." (Or something of that sort)
 * On the subject, ref [1] mentions that he could be an All-Star contender, but says nothing about his injury.
 * "and the Phillies went 8–3 during them" "during which the Phillies went 8–3"


 * Cut the last sentence. What the source says is that "In his introductory press conference, he alluded to the Phillies having three potential Cy Young candidates, which presumably includes Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Eflin." Cotham never said Eflin specifically.
 * The entire Phillies universe has interpreted his comments that way, including on game broadcasts, and in various other reports. I'll cut if you think it's warranted, but I thought "insinuated" accounted for the slight ambiguity. e.g.,  Go   Phightins  ! 


 * To aid a bit with the massive first paragraph and shortened second, re-cut the paragraphs so that the second one begins with "He eventually abandoned that approach".
 * I think as the season (and certainly his career) goes on, that will work itself out?  Go  Phightins  ! 

Pitcher profile

 * Link to pitches (sinker, slider, etc.) in the body as well as the lede
 * Put "abbr=on" on all the conversions
 * "In 2020, he began to incorporate a curveball (79 miles per hour (127 km/h)) more regularly in his repertoire (diminishing his reliance on a changeup), a weapon that helped him record more strikeouts and fueled expectations entering the 2021 season that he could be a number one starting pitcher." "In 2020, he began to incorporate a 79 mph curveball into his repertoire, diminishing his reliance on a changeup. This decision helped him record more strikeouts and fueled ..."

✅


 * Among whom is his durability a concern?
 * Him? Along with poor performance, injuries could derail Eflin’s quest to solidify his spot at the top of the rotation. He dealt with a back injury in each of the last two years while knee injuries were a huge issue early on in his career. “Being able to stay healthy is the main goal,” Eflin said. “I’m going to continue to do that. I’ve done a pretty good job of that in the past.”  from  Go   Phightins  ! 

Personal life

 * While [28] does say that he's engaged to Lauren Dennen, it doesn't specify that they married in December 2020.
 * What do you think about either of these sources?  Presumably the former got it from the latter. It should be in the new edition of the Phillies media guide when it comes out for 2021 in any case. I'd mostly be inclined to wait / catch it there?  Go   Phightins  !  01:15, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

General comments

 * Article looks stable
 * Pictures are relevant and CC
 * That second photo is huge -- can it be shrunk?
 * I think it's a little better now?  Go  Phightins  !  01:42, 23 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Earwig score is a little high, but it looks like a mirror of an old version.

Final comments, etc.
Thank you for your patience! I got my ass kicked recently by the COVID vaccine and am only now feeling better. I'm putting the review for now, and please let me know if you have any questions.  Kncny11  (shoot) 22:33, 22 March 2021 (UTC)
 * No worries. Congrats on getting the vaccine! I'll get into this in the next day or two.  Go  Phightins  !  22:43, 22 March 2021 (UTC)


 * Re Christianity, he has tweeted about it, there are the two articles in which he talks about his faith generally and then his grandfather is an Assembly of God pastor, and finally he wrote a testimony in Baseball Faith: 52 MLB Stars Reflect on Their Faith, though I don't have the book to have page numbers / citation information, but the book is about MLB players and their "relationship with Jesus Christ," so that would certainly drive that home. Open to your thoughts on what to do, but basically the sources never use the word but clearly it's gotten significant coverage. e.g., https://www.inquirer.com/philly/sports/phillies/20150313_Harang_looking_for_more_than_numbers.html  Go  Phightins  !  01:27, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

OK,, I think I've responded to everything. Thanks so much for doing such a careful review. Much appreciated. Happy to follow up on anything you think is needed.  Go  Phightins  !  01:49, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

Alright, thank you for your patience! Dizziness and lightheadedness not fun. As for the points that remain:  Kncny11  (shoot) 16:19, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * To the Law reference, the archival tool will help with the paywall problem
 * I agree that the Pan Am box scores aren't really worth adding
 * Rephrasing the Cy Young sentence to make it clear that Phillies media took Cotham's comments to include Eflin is still in order, just to disambiguate the "insinuated".
 * Clarify that Eflin himself has said his durability is a concern
 * Add the Knot source for now, just for BLP reasons, and when the media guide comes out, that can be replaced
 * Through scouring various sketchy websites, That Baseball Faith book does use the word Christian to describe Eflin, and the pages of note are 76-82.
 * Alrighty. I think all are done. Good find on the book. I prowled around the internet a bit too and didn't find a pirated copy ...  Go  Phightins  !  23:13, 23 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Excellent! Everything looks good, so I'm passing now :)  Kncny11  (shoot) 23:27, 23 March 2021 (UTC)