Phillies prospect Tom Eshelman pitched so well for the Single A Clearwater Threshers that the team promoted him to Double A. But what's his long-term future in organization? (Baseball Betsy)
By: Nick Mandarano, Staff Writer 
Phillies pitching prospect Tom Eshelman, 22, was promoted to Double A Reading on Tuesday. Philadelphia acquired Eshelman in a trade that sent Ken Giles to Houston. He was 4-2 with a 3.34 ERA and 5.82 SO/BB ratio in 11 starts in Clearwater this season.
An American League scout told Phlliedelphia.com that “[Eshelman’s] ceiling is as high as his floor.” The scout described Eshelman as a “finesse pitcher with serious, historic command, but mediocre stuff.” The scout repeatedly emphasized and praised Eshelman’scontrol.
In each of his three collegiate seasons, Eshelman led all Division I pitchers in walks per nine innings, never exceeding 0.6. He was drafted in the second round of the 2015 Amateur Draft by the Houston Astros, but only pitched in four games before the trade. Since joining the Phillies organization, Eshelman has walked just eleven batters resulting in a walk rate of less than 4.5%. He’s averaged less than a walk per nine innings over his last seven starts and hasn’t walked a batter in three starts.
He throws a fastball, curveball, slider and changeup, but none grade above average. His fastball sinks and will sit at around 90 mph, but can touch up to 93. The flip side is that he can throw any pitch at any time and locate it with pinpoint command. Command is usually something that comes later with young pitching prospects, but Eshelman already seems to be elite in that category.
According to the American League scout, Eshelman will probably wind up as a bullpen arm by the time he reaches the Major League level, which makes sense considering the plethora of pitching prospects currently in the Phillies system. At the very best, the scout believes Eshelman could maybe be a back-end starter, but is more likely to be a long reliever.
Along with Eshelman, the Phillies received Brett Oberholtzer and Vince Velasquez, who we’ve already seen at the Major League level, as well as the Phillies’ No. 4 prospect Mark Appel. The fate of Eshelman could help decide whether the Phillies or Astros win the Giles trade.
