Tom Eshelman

Tom Eshelman
Philadelphia Phillies
Pitcher
Born: (1994-06-20) June 20, 1994
Carlsbad, California
Bats: Right Throws: Right

Thomas Darwin Eshelman (born June 20, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He played college baseball for the Titans of California State University, Fullerton. The Houston Astros selected Eshelman in the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft, and traded him to Philadelphia after the 2015 season.

Amateur career

Eshelman attended Carlsbad High School in Carlsbad, California. He played as a pitcher and catcher for Carlsbad's baseball team.[1] He was named to the California Interscholastic Federation's first team at the end of his senior season. However, he was not selected in the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.[2]

Eshelman enrolled at California State University, Fullerton to play college baseball for the Cal State Fullerton Titans, exclusively as a pitcher. In 2013, his freshman year, Eshelman did not issue a walk in his first 63 13 innings pitched, ending the season with three walks allowed in 115 23 innings, setting the National Collegiate Athletic Association single-season record for walks per nine innings pitched (0.23).[3] He was named to the 2013 College Baseball All-America Team by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. In 2014, he was a member of the United States national collegiate baseball team.[4] He finished his collegiate career with 17 walks in 362 23 innings.[5]

Professional career

MLB.com ranked Eshelman as the 99th best available prospect in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft, while Baseball America rated him 126th.[2] The Houston Astros selected Eshelman in the second round, with the 46th overall pick, in the draft.[6][7] Eshelman signed with the Astros, who assigned him to the Gulf Coast Astros of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League to limit his workload for the remainder of the year, following the 130 innings Eshelman pitched for Cal State Fullerton in 2015.[8] In August, the Astros promoted Eshelman to the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Class A Midwest League.[9] He pitched in only four games as a professional in 2015.[10]

The Astros traded Eshelman, Mark Appel, Vincent Velasquez, Brett Oberholtzer, and Harold Arauz to the Philadelphia Phillies for Ken Giles and Jonathan Arauz on December 12, 2015.[11] He began the 2016 season with the Clearwater Threshers of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League.[12] The Phillies promoted him to the Reading Fightin Phils of the Class AA Eastern League during the season.

Personal life

His older brother, Sam, is the varsity basketball coach at Carlsbad High School.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Eshelman Is Ultimate Master Of Control". baseballnews.com. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Maffei, John (June 8, 2015). "Pitching fits Eshelman just fine". U-T San Diego. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  3. "Division I Baseball Records" (pdf). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 3. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  4. Jenkins, Lee (May 7, 2015). "Thomas Eshelman of Cal State Fullerton is making baseball history". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  5. Foster, Chris (June 5, 2015). "Fullerton pitcher Thomas Eshelman could earn a degree in accuracy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  6. "RHP Thomas Eshelman to Astros at No. 46". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  7. Drellich, Evan (June 10, 2015). "Astros pick Thomas Eshelman a control freak, in a good way". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  8. de Jesus Ortiz, Jose (July 1, 2015). "Astros sign second-round pick Thomas Eshelman". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  9. BobMetcalf. "Rattlers use two-out magic to top Bandits". The Quad-City Times. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  10. Wild, Danny (January 14, 2016). "Prospect Q&A: Eshelman excited to join Phils: Traded for Giles, righty ready for new challenge, reflects on first year". MiLB.com. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  11. Short, D. J. "Ken Giles trade announced, with 2013 No. 1 pick Mark Appel headed to the Phillies". HardballTalk. NBC Sports. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  12. Avallone, Michael (April 20, 2016). "Eshelman has fun in the sun for Clearwater: Phillies right-hander strikes out career-high nine, retires 15 straight". MiLB.com. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
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