FORT MYERS, Fla. -- As injuries depleted the Rays’ rotation last season, Zach Eflin stepped forward as a veteran presence. A reliable performer. A steady hand. A leader.

Now, Eflin will lead Tampa Bay into the season after being named the Rays’ Opening Day starter on Tuesday, a significant honor that comes as no surprise considering everything Eflin did during his first season in St. Petersburg.

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“It definitely means a lot,” Eflin said ahead of the Rays’ 5-2 loss to the Red Sox at JetBlue Park. “I don't take it lightly. Very thankful and humbled that the organization trusts me in this position.”

Eflin will take the mound at Tropicana Field on March 28 to face the Blue Jays in his first career Opening Day start. He will be the 16th pitcher to start the first game of the year for the Tampa Bay franchise, which is heading into its 27th season. Injured ace Shane McClanahan started each of the past two Opening Days for the Rays.

Eflin was the obvious choice this year, as the last man standing from the rotation the Rays planned to feature entering last season. Tyler Glasnow was traded to the Dodgers and will be their Opening Day starter. McClanahan is injured. So are Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen.

“Some things you really don't think are ever going to happen,” Eflin said. “I always kind of felt buried in the staff, and I pitched to that, and that was on me. But I also understand that this probably doesn't happen without some injuries and people that we've lost. And with that being said, we also have a bunch of capable arms that can pitch on Opening Day, so I'm very humbled and very appreciative.”

But Eflin is an extremely deserving choice, too. After signing a franchise-record free-agent contract of three years and $40 million, Eflin delivered everything the Rays expected and more. He led the American League with 16 wins, posted a 3.50 ERA and a 7.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio and logged 177 2/3 innings over 31 starts for last year’s 99-win squad.

“We're appreciative that we have him and that he made such a big impact on our club last year, on and off the field,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Pretty easy choice. I think we probably had our Opening Day starter early into the offseason.”

Eflin finished first among all Rays pitchers last season with 3.5 WAR per Baseball Reference and came in sixth in the 2023 AL Cy Young Award voting. Beyond what he did on the mound, Eflin put all his experience with the Phillies into practice and stepped up as a leader inside Tampa Bay’s clubhouse as the Rays battled through injuries and adversity to put together the AL’s second-best record, behind the 101-win Orioles.

“You obviously respect what he does on the mound, and what he means to our team when he's performing,” Cash said. “But when you take that, and maybe even more so in the clubhouse, it allowed him to be the leader that he became.”

Though he has slotted in effortlessly as a leader with the Rays, Eflin said it’s not a role that has always come naturally to him. In Philadelphia, Eflin shared a clubhouse with a number of veterans, including Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler.

When he arrived in St. Petersburg -- joining a young clubhouse with few big-contract guys -- Eflin didn’t have to force anything. His experience, combined with his approachability and personable demeanor, revealed Eflin’s natural ability to lead.

“He absolutely has kind of embraced it,” pitcher Zack Littell said, “as well as other guys just really going up to him and recognizing that he’s kind of a guy that you can talk to and he's going to be extremely honest and straightforward, but also kind of take you under his arm and [take care of you].”

When Littell came to the Rays in 2023, it was Eflin who took the right-hander under his wing. When Littell transitioned to the rotation, Eflin was there to bounce ideas off or to answer questions about his routine.

“I don’t think we fully appreciated how impactful he was in the ways you just cannot measure,” president of baseball operations Erik Neander said during the offseason. “You knew you were getting a good person, a good human, a good teammate. But we didn’t appreciate that he was levels above in all of those respects. … Obviously couldn’t have been more pleased with what we got out of him.”