The Orioles have acquired right-hander Tom Eshelman from the Phillies in exchange for international bonus allocations, per announcements from both clubs. Eshelman has been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk for the time being.
Eshelman, 24, was a second-round pick by the Astros back in 2015 (when Baltimore GM Mike Elias was with Houston) and landed with the Phillies by way of the Ken Giles trade in the 2016-17 offseason. Eshelman opened the season in Double-A Reading and struggled to a 6.28 ERA in 28 2/3 innings, but he did so with strong K/BB numbers that led metrics like FIP (3.79) and xFIP (2.98) to forecast better days on the horizon. The Phillies bumped him up to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, and Eshelman responded well. In four starts there (26 innings), he’s notched a 2.77 ERA with a 23-to-5 K/BB ratio and a 48.6 percent ground-ball rate.
While Eshelman is Norfolk-bound for the time being, it’s not difficult to see him emerging as an option at the Major League level in the near future. Between the 2017-19 seasons, he’s made a total of 48 starts at the Triple-A level, so he has plenty of upper-minors experience. And the Orioles’ rotation has performed dreadfully as a collective unit, posting a 5.42 ERA that ranks 26th in the Majors as well as an MLB-worst 5.87 FIP.
Manager Brandon Hyde said about three weeks ago that the front office had been exploring various avenues to add some rotation depth to the organization, and acquiring Eshelman certainly fits that mold. He wasn’t considered to be among the top prospects in the Phillies’ system but gives the Orioles the type of fairly advanced arm that they’re lacking in the upper levels of a farm system that’s still being rebuilt (and will be for the next few years).
Currently, the Orioles are deploying Andrew Cashner, Dylan Bundy, John Means, David Hess and Gabriel Ynoa, but the latter two of that quintet have struggled in particular. Veteran righty Alex Cobb remains sidelined by a back injury, while Nate Karns is on the shelf indefinitely due to a flexor strain. The alternatives in Triple-A are collectively underperforming, as each of Josh Rogers, Luis Ortiz and Chandler Shepherd has an ERA over 7.00.
As for the Phillies, they’ll add a bit of money — no amount was specified — to add a few more international players to their minor league ranks in the coming days. The 2018-19 international signing period comes to a close on June 15, but this swap should give them more funds to add a bit more talent to the lower levels of the system. International signing slots need to be traded in $250K increments, so the Phils picked up at least that much in this deal — and quite possibly more, given Eshelman’s proximity to the Majors.
Elias is familiar. Straily is still a big leaguer and David Hess is our fifth starter. Have to imagine Eshelman gets a crack sooner rather than later.
Glad to see Eshelman rebounding after a horrible 2018. I don’t hate this move. They probably would have had to of made a decision on him in the near term anyways.
Good move by the Os. He’s not a power pitcher but he gets results. He could be Leake or he could be another Tyler Cloyd. Either way it won’t cost much for the O’s to find out.
As if leake is better than tyler cloyd circa 2019 lol
Peak Leake, obviously. :)
really? i knoa he’s been bad, but he’s rebounded in AAA lately and we get almost nothing in return.
A team in contention can’t afford to have more than one or two unproven SP in the rotation. Eshelman was already behind both Irvin and De Los Santos, and Medina, Suarez, Romero all have higher upsides are likely to pass him. He had no future in Philly. This is about as good as they were gonna get.
We’re going to want to add to the MLB roster soon, and that means opening up 40-man slots. At some point, it becomes a numbers game.
I actually really liked Eshelman coming out of Fullerton. He’ll never be an ace and he doesn’t throw hard at all, but his control is impeccable and he knows how to pitch. Maybe a change of scenery could be good for him.
This kid is a STUD, watched him pitch a Cal State Fullerton. I can not believe he was traded for international bonus money. Best wishes and I hope he becomes a stud pitcher in MLB. Believe me, this kid has talent!!!!!!
I dont think they need him to be a stud. I think if he can go out and throw 5 innings and limit damage that it would be a blessing.
if he was an absolute stud, he’d be in the bigs by now. He was really good at CSUF, but lets pump the brakes
Cal State? Pitching against the Pac 12? Yea..ok, slow down crazo. Get a reality check
“really? i knoa he’s been bad, but he’s rebounded in AAA lately and we get almost nothing in return.”
Depends on how much $ they got back. He’s incredibly low on the depth chart as it stands and it would have taken an absolute disaster at the MLB level for him to get an opportunity.
Irvin
De Los Santos
Anderson
Suarez
Eshelman
At this point in the game the intl bonus money’s value is pretty low. But considering how many starters they have ahead of him it’s not a big deal. With more guys looking to advance next season the Phillies really didn’t have space for Eshelman.
If I were betting the Orioles sent either 500K or 750K for Eshelman. That’s been the standard allotment they’ve sent out.
I will never get how or why this club is high on Irvin. He is not MLB material
I liked Eshelman, but agree he was going to be hard pressed to make the big league club. But seriously, Klentak, you’ve got a hole in CF …you couldn’t grab Mason Williams from Norfolk ?
Eshelman stinks
PLAN THE PARADE
So original
That Ken Giles trade continues to look worse with each passing season. Phillies got 5 pitchers in that deal…only one remains (Vince Velasquez), and the jury is still out on him. However, he has now been demoted to the pen to be a hard-throwing RHP…you know, like Ken Giles.
at this point there is little on the market, and theyre still just lottery tickets. id rather have a guy who has shown he can play in AAA then a small bit of money to get a lottery ticket.
This dude is Jeff Kent’s younger doppelgänger
@clepto
Hey there dumb a**
Get your facts correct you idiot. It’s Big West not even PAC 12. Eshelman is still a stud, and you are still a punk.
Reminds me of another picture we got on the Phillies. I think his name was Kevin Ashner. Came up pitched a couple games never saw him again. Although sometimes just a little adjustment can make a big difference. Dylan Bundy secondary pictures were breaking side to side. They got him to stand a little taller. For whatever reason I guess he was more on top of the ball.his ibreaking stuff went down and and his command got better and right now is pitching well so you never know