During the offseason, Zach Eflin isn’t in sole control of his facial hair.

“Most of the time, I don’t even remember to shave because I’m chasing kids around all day,” said Eflin, a dad to four children under 4 years old.

But then the holidays come around, and it’s time for Eflin to shave. He wants a mustache like he sometimes sports during baseball season, but it’s not up to him.

“My wife is anti-mustache,” Eflin said with a smile, as the hair on his top lip frowned. “I beg for a mustache in the offseason. But it’s Thanksgiving, it’s Christmas, it’s all the holiday pictures and stuff. I don’t have a say in facial hair in the offseason.”

But the holidays are many months away, and the Orioles have ballgames to win amid a hapless start to the season. To help escape this funk, Eflin is among a group of players inside Baltimore’s clubhouse who started a mustache movement this week.

“Looks like more people every day,” he said as he looked around the clubhouse. “It’s starting to catch on.”

At least eight Orioles players are sporting some variation of a mustache, including shortstop Gunnar Henderson, catcher Adley Rutschman and starting pitcher Dean Kremer. Reliever Andrew Kittredge has joined in, and he said the group of mustachioed men weren’t going to stop until they won a series. Baltimore opened the season 6-10 and failed to win any of its first five series.

But wait. The Orioles this week won a series over the Cleveland Guardians. Did that end the mustache movement?

“We’re going to ride the mustaches for a while,” Kittredge said underneath his bushy ‘stache.

The mustaches, of course, don’t have supernatural powers. The Orioles on Friday lost, 8-3, to the Cincinnati Reds in one of Baltimore’s ugliest games of the season.

But games like Friday’s perhaps prove, reliever Bryan Baker said, why something as frivolous as team mustaches are what this team needs.

“Just kind of switch up the juju around here,” Baker said. “Most of us are superstitious people. We got our first series win, and hopefully we’ll get more people involved.”

Eflin agrees.

“It’s a very, very long season. Every day is pretty repetitive. When you show up looking different, sometimes it creates a smile and smiles are contagious,” Eflin said. “It’s a fun thing to do together.”

Pitchers — especially relievers — are the most superstitious among those in a baseball clubhouse. When asked sarcastically if the mustache trend could actually help turn the Orioles’ season around, Baker didn’t dismiss the possibility.

“It’s something small that we can kind of rally behind. I think it’s the ability to be a little bit silly,” said Baker, “a beard guy” who admits that his mustache could use some work. “Hopefully it brings some good luck along with it.”

Baker isn’t sure who started it. He guessed it was Eflin. But like most great movements, it was a grassroots effort.

“Sometimes you just got to switch something up,” Eflin said. “Just a little changeup.”

When Baker first noticed furrier upper lips around the clubhouse, he assumed it was a “rehab-only thing.” Eflin is recovering from a lat muscle strain. Kittredge is on the injured list after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in March. Kyle Bradish, also a member of the ‘stache syndicate, is making his way back from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery.

But then Baker saw Henderson and Rutschman follow suit. Colton Cowser has one, too, but it’s more of a goatee. Charlie Morton has a full beard with the mustache, but it appears as if he’s growing out his upper lip a bit more.

There’s no doubt in Baker’s mind, though, whose is the best.

“Oh, I think Eflin’s is the best,” he said. “He set the tone.”

Last season, Eflin rocked the mustache, but his wife suggested he add a soul patch between his bottom lip and chin. Lauren might not love the mustache in the offseason, but she approves of hirsute hijinks during baseball season.

“She’s always down for me to do stuff with the guys, which I appreciate and respect,” Eflin said.

Baker has no long-term plans for the hair on his face. It could change any day, but for now, he’s sticking with the mustache. And he hopes even more of his teammates join in.

“Heck yeah, the more the merrier,” he said with a laugh.

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.