The Padres and righty Thomas Eshelman have agreed to a minor league deal, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. It’s a homecoming of sorts for the 27-year-old, who grew up just north of San Diego in Carlsbad. Eshelman, a client of the Ballengee Group, will vie a roster spot in camp and give the Friars some upper-level pitching depth if he doesn’t make the squad.
A second-round pick by the Astros out of Cal State Fullerton back in 2015, Eshelman went from Houston to Philadelphia as part of a trade package for Ken Giles in 2015. The Phillies flipped him to the Orioles in a 2019 deal that sent international bonus allotments back to Philadelphia.
Eshelman made his big league debut with the O’s in 2019, and he’s appeared in each of the past three seasons with Baltimore. While he’s picked up 98 1/3 innings of experience in the Majors, the righty has yet to find much success, pitching to a 5.77 ERA with an 11.3% strikeout rate, a 6.9% walk rate and a 34.1% ground-ball rate. Eshelman does have a more palatable 4.43 ERA in parts of four Triple-A seasons (355 2/3 innings), where he’s logged a 16.7% strikeout rate and a 4.8% walk rate.
The Padres are loaded with rotation options, with Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Mike Clevinger, Blake Snell, Nick Martinez, Chris Paddack, Ryan Weathers, Reiss Knehr, Pedro Avila, MacKenzie Gore and Adrian Martinez all on the 40-man roster. Given that depth, it’ll likely be tough for Eshelman to work his way onto the roster in the limited time remaining in camp, but he can still give San Diego some extra depth in Triple-A El Paso.
Wow today is boring
He has actually cut the apron strings to the Orioles!
If the Pads rotation is healthy (big if) and Martinez becomes 5th starter, they have a positive conundrum about sending 2 of 3 of Paddack, Weathers, Gore back to minors. This would be especially difficult on Paddack. And then they get stud youngster Morejon back mid-season. Good health might force a trade of 1 of those 3 guys that may end up in AAA.. It seems as though Gore might be getting it back together, and I hope the cluster of talent ahead of him now doesn’t impede his promotion to big leagues, I have more confidence in him long-term than I do Paddack and Weathers at this point.. Then there’s Lamet…..
A major league team needs to enter the season with a good 10 starting pitcher options to account for injuries.
As usual, well said Brewer. Your Gigantes made some nice moves in the arm department this offseason; should be an interesting year-long scrap for those Wildcard spots. I have a hunch the Pads will hold their starters all year, but that doesn’t mean teams won’t ask about the availability of said arms. Martinez “should be” the 5th in line out of ST; the young arms have maneuverability. Weathers is 22 and just went through a strange rookie season, Gore (outside of blisters) has always looked legit and Paddack is still only 26 himself. These youngsters will improve, creating that conundrum that you spoke of. Happy and healthy ’22 to you and yours, amigo!
@ Gwynning. Yah the Giants are making some smart moves I think – they had to. We’ll see if they are as lucky with injuries this year though. Something tells me it’s the Pads who may pose the best challenge to the tricked-out Trolley Dodgers.
You’re right about Weathers, Gore, and probably Paddack. Paddack only had 7 games in AA (only facing four teams), and once the league figured him out, he hasn’t been able to adjust.
I would add Knehr to that list of guys who should probably be in the minors, too. Martinez is kind of a wild card; he struggled a bit with his promotion to AAA. But still, it’s nice to see some upper level depth with starting pitching. We’ll need it.
As much as I hope it works out for him, I’m starting to get the feeling that Paddack needs a change of scenery (whether that be a demotion or a trade). He doesn’t seem to be the same person mentally as when he came up, and his pitches aren’t the same either, so something has to give. Otherwise I could see him struggling to make a major league roster (though could be a bullpen weapon).
Paddack needed/needs to finish learning and developing in AA. Preller brought him up way too soon and expected him to learn at the ML level. His early half season of success went away as soon as the league figured him out, and he couldn’t adjust.
Preller needs an intervention. He can’t go a day without handing out minor league deals to pitchers that have longer odds than lottery tickets. I think he’s overcooking the entire system at this point.
He may have issues but signing people to minor league deals isn’t one of them. They have zero risk.
Every inning given to an Eshelman is an inning taken away from the development of a real prospect. I’m sure the Padres have no less than a couple dozen pitchers in their system that could muster Eshelman’s glorious career numbers of an 5.77 ERA and 4.5 SO/9.
Yes, let’s judge a young, live arm by his less than 100 innings on a very bad team. That sounds like perfect 20/20 vision…
Eshelman and live arm don’t belong in the same sentence. He strikes out 4 1/2 batters per 9 innings and gives up 2.3 HR per 9 innings. In an era where hitters launch homers or strikeout, which outcome would you place your bet when looking at a pitcher of Eshelman’s profile? Throw in his WHIP of 1.47, he’s a matchstick short of a raging inferno. His FIP is a hefty 6.51 and his GB% is only 34.8%. There’s zero reason to put a uniform on a pitcher that relies on putting the ball in play that can’t induce ground balls. Opposing hitters have an average exit velocity higher than his pitch velocity. Slow day, I’m wasting my time trying to figure this one out. I’d rather have Luis Perdomo than Eshelman if Preller insists on organizational depth. At least the infield would get a workout.
Obviously the numbers could be better. The kid used to pitch well so let’s take a no risk look. Perdomo’s grounder seem like a great idea too ha
I personally guarantee you that Eshelman will not steal a single inning from anyone considered a real prospect. It will be other Spring Training roster fillers he takes innings from.
A championship team can use 40 or more pitchers at one point or another throughout the season. Teams need experienced depth in AAA to support the big league club. Most teams these days keep their pitching prospects in AA until they’re knocking on the door, so this signing won’t displace someone in that category.
@zippy … You are exactly right. I’ve been talking about our lack of pitching depth for at least three years, and it keeps biting us in the butt year after year. And all I hear from these self-proclaimed experts is snark about “hating Preller” or how “deep” our rotation is, even though we only had (sometimes) four actual starters. I really don’t know if it’s just homerism or ignorance.
To mash: leash men
Hard to call it a homecoming for a SoCal native to spend his entire season in El Paso.
Minor leagye deals w San Diego mean a nice summer in El Paso. Nice town where your era will be 7.
2 years after the minor league signing, and Eshelman’s playing days are over. He’s now a pitching coach in the Padres organization. Those who can’t do, teach.