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Tom Eshelman

Thomas Eshelman Takes Coaching Job With Padres

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Right-hander Thomas Eshelman announced his retirement after eight professional seasons, and the former Orioles hurler is now moving into the coaching ranks as a pitching coach in the Padres organization.

“Officially on the other side of the fence,” the 28-year-old Eshelman wrote as part of his official statement on his Twitter feed.  “I’ve been blessed to be able to play the game I love for so long and I’m excited to share the things that I’ve learned and will continue to learn with the generations to come.”

The right-hander only appeared with the Orioles at the MLB level, posting a 5.77 ERA over 98 1/3 innings with Baltimore during the 2019-21 seasons.  However, Eshelman was a member of four different organizations during his career, beginning with the Astros when Houston selected him in the second round of the 2015 draft.  He only lasted a few months in Houston, as the Astros dealt Eshelman to the Phillies that offseason as part of a memorable seven-player deal.  That same swap saw Ken Giles land in Houston, while Vince Velasquez and former first overall pick Mark Appel were among the players who joined Eshelman in Philadelphia.

Eshelman was traded to Baltimore in June 2019, which gave the right-hander his first crack at the majors.  Working mostly as a starter in the minors, Eshelman became a swingman with the O’s, getting some starts in the rotation and otherwise acting in a multi-inning relief role.  Eshelman was designated for assignment several times over his three years with the Orioles, and departed the team for good when he signed a minors deal with the Padres last winter.  In what ended up as his final pro season, Eshelman had 5.76 ERA over 114 combined innings with San Diego’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates.

Eshelman hails from Carlsbad, California and played his college ball at Cal State-Fullerton.  As he noted in his Twitter statement, his “next journey in this game I love” will come with his “hometown team,” giving him an ideal environment to begin his coaching endeavors.  MLBTR congratulates Eshelman on his playing career and we wish him all the best in the coaching ranks.

13 Players Elect Free Agency

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With the World Series kicking off on Friday, we’re only a couple weeks from the opening of the offseason. It’s customary each offseason for dozens of players to hit the open market, separate from the players who reach MLB free agency at the end of the World Series based on the expiration of their contracts while having six-plus years of MLB service time.

Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of MLB service, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minor leagues has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group falls under that umbrella. The majority will take minor league deals over the winter, although one or two could find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

In recent weeks, we’ve provided periodic updates on players qualifying for minor league free agency. Here are the latest, courtesy of the MiLB.com transactions tracker.

Pitchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Padres, Thomas Eshelman Agree To Minor League Deal

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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.

Four Orioles Players Elect Free Agency

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OCTOBER 25: Baltimore announced that each of Valaika, Eshelman and Wade has elected free agency as expected. That’s also true of catcher Austin Wynns, who was designated for assignment himself last week.

OCTOBER 23: The Orioles have outrighted infielder Pat Valaika and right-handers Thomas Eshelman and Konner Wade to Triple-A, according to MLB.com’s official transactions page.  All three players have the option of rejecting the outright assignment and opting for free agency.

Valaika has the most big league experience of the trio, with 373 games under his belt with the Rockies and Orioles, including 142 appearances in a Baltimore uniform over the last two seasons.  Valaika hit .277/.315/.475 over 150 PA in 2020 but his numbers cratered to a .540 OPS in 281 plate appearances this year, and he no longer seems to be in the club’s plans.  Valaika was projected to earn $1.3MM in his second trip through the arbitration process this winter and already seemed like a non-tender candidate.

Eshelman could be a candidate to return for another season with the O’s, as he re-signed with the team on a new minor league deal after opting for free agency last offseason in the wake of an outright assignment.  Eshelman has spent parts of the last three seasons with Baltimore, with a 5.77 ERA to show for his 98 1/3 career innings.  While he has some extra utility as a swingman, Eshelman has only an 11.3% strikeout rate over his brief MLB career.

Wade made his MLB debut this season, posting an 11.68 ERA in 12 1/3 innings over seven appearances for Baltimore.  A seventh-round pick for the Rockies in the 2013 draft, Wade pitched in the Mexican League and the independent leagues amidst stints in the Colorado and Boston farm systems before landing with the Orioles on a minor league deal this past winter.  A groundball specialist earlier in this career, Wade has a 3.76 ERA over 735 innings in the minors, starting 109 of 175 career outings.

Orioles Designate Dusten Knight, Select Thomas Eshelman

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The Orioles announced a quartet of roster moves this morning, including the news that right-hander Dusten Knight has been designated for assignment.  The 40-man roster spot will be filled by righty Thomas Eshelman, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Norfolk.  In addition, the Orioles have called up recent waiver acquisition Brooks Kriske from Triple-A and optioned righty Spenser Watkins to the minors.

Knight is one of many players who made their big league debuts with the 2021 Orioles, as the 31-year-old righty posted a 9.35 ERA over his first 8 2/3 innings in the Show.  The Giants selected Knight in the 28th round of the 2013 draft, and after playing in the Giants and Twins farm systems into the 2019 season, Knight pitched in the Mexican League and in independent ball before catching on with Baltimore on a minor league contract this past winter.

Eshelman is back with the O’s after being outrighted off their 40-man roster earlier this season, which marked the third time Eshelman has been DFA’ed and then outrighted during his three seasons with Baltimore.  All of Eshleman’s 92 career Major League innings have come in an Orioles uniform, and the righty has struggled to a 5.87 ERA and an 11% strikeout rate over that stretch.  This season has been particularly rough, as Eshelman has an 8.02 ERA and more walks (10) than strikeouts (7) over his 21 1/3 innings pitched.

AL East Notes: Eshelman, Barnes, Darwinzon, Brasier

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The Orioles announced that Thomas Eshelman has cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A. The righty was designated for assignment on Sunday. In 21 1/3 innings this year, he’s struggled mightily, with an ERA of 8.02, along with strikeout and walk rates of 6.9% and 9.8%.

Elsewhere in the AL East…

  • Matt Barnes was placed on the COVID-IL earlier today because he was experiencing some symptoms but had not tested positive. After the game, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reported that Barnes subsequently tested negative and could be reactivated tomorrow. This is surely a relief on multiple fronts. But in pure baseball terms, Barnes is tremendously important to the Red Sox. The 31-year-old is having his best season to date, with an ERA of 2.30 being more than a full run better than his previous low of 3.65 in 2018. He’s also pushed his strikeout rate to 41.5%, beyond his previous best of 38.6. And his walk rate has trended downwards, coming in at 6.9%, better than every previous season except for his small-sample debut in 2014.
  • Cotillo also provided updates on a handful of other Red Sox, including an unfortunate detail about Darwinzon Hernandez. “It went from something that we felt like was going to be back soon, now he’s in pain and he’s a little more sore, so we’ve got to do other testing to see where we’re at with it,” Cora is quoted as saying in the piece. Hernandez was placed on the injured list July 31st with a right oblique strain. The hope at the time was that it would be a minimum stay on the 10-day. But there’s a chance that hope may be dashed now. The lefty has been a solid contributor out of the Boston bullpen this year, chalking up 34 innings with an ERA of 3.44, racking up strikeouts at a healthy clip of 29.9% but also a lot of walks at 16.9%.
  • “As of now, I’m very surprised, to be honest with you — pleasantly surprised — that he’s doing so well and things are trending in the right direction,” is what Cora had to say about Ryan Brasier. The 33-year-old was rehabbing a calf injury in June when he was struck in the head by a comebacker. He suffered a concussion and ear laceration at the time but now seems on the verge of throwing a bullpen and starting another rehab. The righty has been a valuable member of the Red Sox bullpen over the past three seasons but has yet to pitch at the big league level this year because of the calf injury and then the scary incident in June. But it’s very encouraging that he appears to be healthy now.

Orioles Make Three Roster Moves

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The Orioles placed left-hander Tanner Scott on the 10-day injured list due to a left knee sprain.  Fellow lefty Keegan Akin has been reinstated from the COVID-related injury list to take Scott’s place on the active roster, while right-hander Thomas Eshelman was designated for assignment to open up a 40-man roster spot.

Scott has a 3.95 ERA/4.12 SIERA over 41 innings out of Baltimore’s bullpen this season, with a very strong 31.4% strikeout rate.  However, Scott’s 16.5% walk rate is one of the worst in baseball, continuing the control problems that have plagued the southpaw over his 143 career innings in the Show.  Despite these free passes, Scott still drew a lot of attention prior to the trade deadline, as rival teams were intrigued by his high fastball velocity and the fact that Scott isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2024 season.

This is the third time in as many seasons that the Orioles have DFA’s Eshelman, with the previous two designations resulting in the right-hander being outrighted to Triple-A.  All 92 of Eshelman’s career Major League innings have come with Baltimore in those three seasons, with the righty posting a 5.87 ERA and only an 11% strikeout rate.  The swingman has been mostly used in the rotation in 2021, as Eshelman has started five of his six games.

Orioles Designate Chance Sisco For Assignment

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1:40pm: The Orioles announced that Sisco has indeed been designated for assignment. The move was necessary to open a spot on the roster for right-hander Thomas Eshelman, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Norfolk. Eshelman will take the place of lefty Bruce Zimmermann and start tonight’s game for the O’s, while Zimmermann is headed to the injured list due to tendinitis in his left biceps.

1:07pm: The Orioles have designated former top catching prospect Chance Sisco for assignment, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). They’ll now have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.

Sisco, 26, was a second-round pick back in 2013 and quickly played his way into top prospect status. Sisco raked at every stop through his first few minor league seasons, and Baseball America ranked him among the sport’s 70 best prospects in both 2017 and 2018. His 2016 season, in particular, was an impressive run through Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, as Sisco combined to bat .317/.403/.430 with a 12.3 percent walk rate against a 17.7 percent strikeout rate. The O’s called Sisco up for a look late in the 2017 season, and he responded with a 6-for-18 showing that included a pair of homers and a pair of doubles. He looked very much like the organization’s catcher of the future.

That began to change in 2018, when Sisco received his first extended look at the MLB level. He played in 63 games for Baltimore that season and logged 184 plate appearances with just a .181/.288/.269 output to show for it. Sisco’s numbers improved to .211/.345/.389 in 2019-20, but he’s struggled mightily so far in 2021 both in the big leagues and down in Norfolk.

Sisco had a nice showing with Triple-A during the 2019 season, but he hasn’t consistently produced even at the sport’s top minor league level. He’s batting .205/.327/.341 through 52 plate appearances in Norfolk this season and carries an overall .264/.352/.421 slash there in parts of five seasons.

Those struggles have become more problematic as Sisco has gotten older and been unable to improve his ability to control the running game. Baseball America noted back in 2018 that Sisco would likely need “perfect footwork” to be a passable thrower from behind the dish, given bottom-of-the-scale pop times as he attempted to throw out runners on the bases. To his credit, he went 6-for-9 in thwarting thieves at the MLB level this season, but he’s also 1-for-16 in that department in Norfolk this year and has a career 21 percent caught-stealing rate in the minors.

Further complicating matters for Sisco is that he’ll be out of options next spring, meaning he’d need to either make the big league roster or go unclaimed on waivers. With his current struggles pushing him down the depth chart, that lack of future flexibility likely contributed to today’s decision to remove him from the 40-man roster.

Sisco’s status as a one-time top catching prospect who can be optioned for the remainder of the year could well hold appeal to another club, either via a small trade or a waiver claim. The most plausible scenario for him to remain with the Orioles beyond the current season would be one where he clears waivers and is later selected back to the MLB roster, but given today’s move, it may be likelier that another club takes a chance on the former top prospect.

With Sisco now in DFA limbo, the only catchers on the Orioles’ 40-man roster are Pedro Severino and light-hitting Austin Wynns. The club has an experienced option in Norfolk in the former of former Rays catcher Nick Ciuffo, but the organization’s hope at the position clearly shifted to Adley Rutschman the moment he was selected with the top pick in the 2019 draft. The switch-hitting Rutschman has utterly obliterated Double-A pitching thus far in 2021, hitting at a .287/.421/.554 pace with ten homers and five doubles through 171 plate appearances in what is typically a pitcher-friendly environment.

It’s not implausible that Rutschman could crack the Majors this season, although rebuilding clubs like the Orioles often seek to delay the arrival of their top prospects in order to gain an additional year of club control. Calling Rutschman up this season, or at any point in the first two weeks of the 2022 campaign, would give the Orioles’ control over him through the 2027 season. Waiting to call him up until 15 days of the 2022 season have elapsed would push that path to free agency back into the 2028-29 offseason.

Orioles Re-Sign Thomas Eshelman

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The Orioles have re-signed right-hander Thomas Eshelman to a minor league contract, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports (Twitter link).  Eshelman chose to become a free agent last month rather than accept an outright assignment to Baltimore’s Triple-A team.

In his second consecutive year of swingman work for the O’s, Eshelman posted a 3.89 ERA over 34 2/3 innings, starting four of his 10 outings.  He had only an 11.2 K%, continuing his near career-long trend of not missing many bats.  While Eshelman’s Statcast numbers aren’t anything to write home about, his return to the organization gives the Orioles another option as they figure out their pitching mix.  Eshelman’s ability to contribute a spot start is useful, particularly in a rotation that may feature several young hurlers who may still be building up their innings.

Of course, Eshelman is himself only 26 years old, and he was a second-round pick for the Astros in the 2015 draft.  He has a 4.22 ERA over 514 1/3 career innings in the minors (with the Orioles, Phillies, and Astros) to go along with his 5.22 ERA, 12.4 K%, and 6.5 BB% in 70 2/3 Major League innings with Baltimore.

Thomas Eshelman Clears Waivers, Elects Free Agency

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The Orioles announced Thursday that right-hander Thomas Eshelman has cleared waivers and rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency. He was designated for assignment when the O’s set their roster in advance of the Rule 5 Draft and is now able to sign with any club.

Eshelman, 26, posted a solid 3.89 ERA in 34 2/3 innings with the Orioles in 2020, but his numbers beyond that mark are far less encouraging. The 2015 second-rounder managed only 16 strikeouts against nine walks in that time, and he was tagged for seven home runs in that time as well. Eshelman has tallied 70 2/3 innings in the Majors to this point in his still-young career but has punched out just 38 hitters while walking 20. Unlike many low-strikeout hurlers, he’s not at all a ground-ball pitcher, inducing grounders at a 33.6 percent clip against a 41.3 percent fly-ball rate.

In parts of three seasons at the Triple-A level, Eshelman carries a 4.12 ERA with averages of 6.5 strikeouts and just 1.9 walks per nine innings pitched, and he has a pair of minor league options still remaining. That track record and flexibility makes him a sensible depth pickup for a team in need of pitching depth, though he’ll very likely be looking at a minor league pact in free agency.

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