PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper’s broken left thumb is a massive blow to the Phillies. But they suffered another considerable loss Tuesday when they placed right-hander Zach Eflin on the 15-day injured list with a bruised right knee.
Eflin has a history of knee issues, but he said Tuesday that he believes this one is not as serious. He does not know how much time he will miss, but he is eligible to be activated on July 11. Left-hander Bailey Falter will take Eflin’s spot in the rotation and is scheduled to pitch Friday against the Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park.
“Maybe missing a start or two is going to clean it right up so I can be good and healthy the rest of the way,” Eflin said. “I’m just going through some soreness right now. It’s pretty tough to deliver a pitch, but I got some pretty good news [Monday] with [an MRI exam]. Really just need to hopefully just take five to seven days off and let it calm down before getting back out and feeling 100 percent again. Every fifth day right now is kind of bringing [the soreness] back, so the thought process is [to] let it calm down and be back 100 percent, as opposed to deal with it for 10 to 15 starts.”
Eflin said he has a bruise on the “fat pad” under his right kneecap. He had surgery last September to repair a tear in his patellar tendon in that knee. He also had that patellar tendon repaired in August 2016, and he had surgery to repair his left patellar tendon in September 2016.
Eflin said Monday’s MRI exam revealed that the right patellar tendon is fine. “No new damage,” he said.
Eflin said it is unclear if he will receive an anti-inflammatory injection to help his recovery.