Phillies Post-2016 Top 30 Prospect Rankings: 16-20
By John Town
No. 17: Right-Handed Pitcher Thomas Eshelman
The Phillies picked up two dynamic young pitchers from the Astros in the Ken Giles trade in Vince Velasquez and Mark Appel. Meanwhile, Thomas Eshelman flew under the radar, but he is a talented pitcher nonetheless.
While Appel and Velasquez overpower hitters with their arsenals, Eshelman commands the strike zone like few others. Without a doubt, Eshelman’s command is easily plus if not higher. MLB.com considers it a 70 on the 20-80 scale. Dan Farnsworth of Fangraphs said Eshelman’s command “gives everything a bump up a tick or so, grade-wise.”
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Eshelman exhibited this control with High-A Clearwater, walking just 1.67 batters per nine innings in 59.1 innings with the Threshers. His command helped him succeed overall, as Eshelman struck out 25.9% of opposing hitters and posted a 3.34 ERA in 11 starts.
Eshelman earned a promotion to Double-A Reading in mid-June, but he certainly stumbled out of the gate there. Through his first seven starts, Eshelman carried a 6.75 ERA and 1.91 WHIP. In addition, Eshelman walked 12 batters in 29.1 innings in that span, which was completely uncharacteristic for him.
Thankfully, Eshelman turned it around when the calendar turned to August. In his six starts that month, Eshelman struck out 23.7% of hitters and walked just 3.7% of them. Opposing hitters had a .271 average and his FIP was just 2.73. Unfortunately, a bout of appendicitis cut his 2016 short.
The biggest concern with Eshelman is his lack of any one standout pitch. His command is top-tier without a doubt, but the worry exists that upper-level hitters will jump all over Eshelman’s average arsenal. We saw that when Eshelman started out in Double-A, but he also showed the ability to adjust as he did much better in the last month of his stint in Reading.
Eshelman’s 2017 will likely begin back in Reading’s rotation, but command pitchers like him progress rather quickly. Eshelman follows that trend, reaching Double-A this year despite being drafted in 2015. It isn’t too hard to see him reach the major-leagues in September next season if he continues to succeed, but a 2018 major-league arrival is far more likely.