Former Phillies Pitching Prospect Tom Eshelman Slated for MLB Debut with Orioles

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

A former Philadelphia Phillies pitching prospect, now with the Baltimore Orioles, will make his Major League Baseball debut Monday evening as a starting pitcher— 25-year-old RHP Tom Eshelman. Eshelman and the Orioles will oppose the American League Wild Card-leading Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

Update: Eshelman received the no-decision, allowing two runs, six singles and one walk while spanning five innings in the Orioles' 6-3 loss to the Rays. Eshelman failed to record a strikeout, but induced 13 strikes looking and five swinging strikes over his 75 overall strikes and 21 batters faced.

The Phillies dealt the Carlsbad, California, native to the Orioles less than a month ago (June 10) in exchange for international slot money. A 2017 Paul Owens Award recipient as Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Eshelman was acquired in the December 2015 Ken Giles trade with the Houston Astros; the Phillies' only remaining player of the five they received for Giles is RHP Vince Velasquez.

This season between Double- and Triple-A with the Phillies, Eshelman went a combined 1-4 with a 4.61 ERA, 1.409 WHIP and 49-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio spanning 10 starts and 54 2/3 innings. Eshelman had gone 1-1 with a 4.05 ERA in three starts and 20 innings with the Orioles' Triple-A Norfolk affiliate prior to his promotion.