For the second straight year, the Toronto Blue Jays will face Zach Eflin on Opening Day.
The Baltimore Orioles announced Friday that Eflin will take the ball when they visit Toronto to kick off the 2025 season on March 27.
In a video posted to its social media, Baltimore shared that Eflin got the news through a video call with his wife and four girls.
Eflin got the Opening Day nod for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2024 when the Blue Jays visited Tropicana Field to begin the season. Toronto tagged the now 30-year-old for six hits and six runs, including homers from George Springer, Cavan Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in an 8-2 win.
Baltimore acquired Eflin from Tampa Bay ahead of last summer's trade deadline. He ended 2024 with a 3.59 ERA and 134 strikeouts over 165.1 innings pitched.
The six-foot-six right-hander pitched much better once swapping jerseys, though, as he posted a 2.60 ERA for the Orioles in nine starts. Eflin also had an impressive post-season start, allowing just one run in Baltimore's Game 2 loss of the wild-card series against the Kansas City Royals.
Corbin Burnes started Opening Day for the Orioles in 2024, but departed to the Arizona Diamondbacks via free agency this off-season.
Baltimore hasn't revealed its other starters for the four-game series against the Blue Jays. With Burnes now on the West Coast and Grayson Rodriguez expected to begin the season on the injured list, the Orioles will likely choose between Charlie Morton, Dean Kremer, Cade Povich and Tomoyuki Sugano to start the other three games.
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