Aaron Nola and Zach Eflin have been best friends from the minor leagues to the World Series

Zach Eflin picked up three of the biggest outs of his career on Saturday night, closing the final inning of a win that put the Phillies on the brink of reaching the World Series. But first, he had to get fitted for a tuxedo.

Eflin will be one of Aaron Nola’s groomsmen in December, and even pitchers navigating their first postseason have to find time to get measured.

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“I went to Men’s Wearhouse and then I came in here and gave him crap because they said he didn’t even come in yet to get fitted,” Eflin said Sunday while the Phillies soaked their clubhouse with champagne and beer after winning the National League title. “I beat him to that.”

The two right-handers are the team’s two longest-tenured players, sharing a journey that started in the minor leagues and leads them this week to the World Series as best friends. They met seven years ago as prospects who the Phillies dreamed could pitch for their next contending team. And now they are.

Eflin, after moving to the bullpen, is one of Rob Thomson’s top late-inning options. Nola will start Game 1 on Friday in Houston. But the years — almost an entire decade — between those minor-league bus rides and the World Series weren’t without challenges.

Nola reached the majors first, debuting in 2015 just 10 days before the Phillies traded Cole Hamels. Eflin made it the next season, arriving in time to play with Ryan Howard, who left after the season as the final connection to the last great Phillies era. The team’s arduous rebuilding process was underway.

“We came through the system ready to win ... and played in the playoffs a bunch of times in the minors,” Eflin said. “But we got to the big leagues and scuffled a little bit. There’s been a lot of criticism over the years about our team. I think five of the seven years I’ve been here, we were at .500 or below. A lot of guys were in and out, in and out, in and out. And all of those guys kind of forged the path for us to be here right now.”

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Nola quickly became one of baseball’s premier pitchers, finishing his fourth season in 2018 as a finalist for the Cy Young Award. But as the team faded each September, Nola’s struggles in the final month of the season were easy to blame.

He posted a 6.51 ERA in September 2019 as the Phils won just nine of their final 25 games. In 2020, he lasted less than four innings in a series finale that would have sent the Phils to the postseason with a win. Nola had a 6.19 ERA for September last year.

Nola often said there was nothing to his September struggles. But the narrative had been written: He was a great pitcher but hard to rely on when the games mattered most. And for the Phils to finally break into the postseason, he had to change it.

So it felt fitting that Nola was on the mound in Houston earlier this month for the third-to-last game of the season. A win would send the Phils back to the playoffs for the first time since 2011. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and was soon toasting Eflin — who recorded the final three outs — in the clubhouse.

Nola, known for September shortcomings, pitched the Phillies into the postseason.

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The Phillies won both of his first two postseason starts as he pitched into the seventh inning against St. Louis and Atlanta without allowing a run. He stumbled against San Diego after an RBI hit by his brother Austin sank his afternoon.

But the way he finished the regular season and his first two postseason starts is enough for the Phils to enter Friday’s World Series opener with confidence. Nola rewrote the narrative.

“Noles has been so good for so long,” Rhys Hoskins said. “He knows he’s come up short, we’ve all come up short. I’m just ecstatic. Ecstatic.”

Eflin teared up in March after pitching in a spring training game, his first start since knee surgery ended his season in 2021. His career was filled with promise but his knees never seemed to cooperate. Eflin said he had pitched through knee pain for as long as he could.

His rookie season was cut short by surgery on both knees and he spent time on the injured list in five of the last seven seasons. His talent was constantly undermined by injuries. But perhaps this season, he thought, would be different.

And then he felt discomfort in June in the same knee on which he had surgery last September. As Eflin remained sidelined for almost three months, it seemed possible that his season was over.

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But he had said in March after that spring training game: “I want to be pitching in the playoffs.” There was still a way to do that.

“No matter the outing for Eflin, good or bad, he’s always the same guy,” Nola said. “He pushes through and always believes in himself.”

Eflin moved to the bullpen as there was not enough time for him to build the strength needed to be a starter. The transition worked and he quickly became one of Thomson’s most trusted arms. He closed the postseason clincher and both games of the wild-card series in St. Louis. He allowed three runs in the Division Series opener against Atlanta but still closed out the win. Eflin has since not allowed a run in three outings.

Eflin rallied back from his injury to pitch in the playoffs, just like he said he would.

“Excuse me, but Eflin has gone through some [stuff], right?” Hoskins said. “For him to take on a new role says a lot about the type of competitor he is, the type of player he is.”

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Eflin and Nola first shared a rotation in 2015 at double-A Reading along with three other pitching prospects. Perhaps this was the pitching wave that was going to speed the team’s rebuilding process to the postseason.

Jesse Biddle was traded a year later, won a World Series ring last year with Atlanta, and pitched this season in Japan. Ben Lively made 20 starts for the Phils and last pitched in the majors in 2019. Tom Windle hasn’t reached the majors and pitched last summer for an independent-league team in Iowa. Making it to the majors is difficult. It’s even harder to stick. Seven years later, Nola and Eflin are still here.

The World Series is scheduled to end no later than Nov. 5, giving Nola a month to get fitted for his tuxedo. First, he might have another ring to claim before his wedding day.

“He’s one of my best friends,” Eflin said. “He’s such a good human being. He’s such a great baseball player. It’s been a privilege of a lifetime to pitch with him this long and I hope it continues. This is exactly where we wanted to be. There’s no way around it. We always wanted to pitch in big moments and do it together.”