By: Brandon Apter, contributor 
This offseason, one of the notable trades made by the Phillies was with the Astros. As part of a seven-player deal, the Phils sent Ken Giles and Jonathan Arauz to Houston for five players. One of the names not mentioned as much as Mark Appel and Vince Velasquez is Thomas Eshelman, who was a second round pick for the Astros in 2015. The 21-year-old right-hander, slated to start with Advanced 'A' Clearwater, was deemed as the Phillies under-the-radar prospect for 2016 by MiLB.com in their annual column that selects potential breakout prospects for the season.
A second-round pick in 2015, Eshelman was moved within his Draft year — shoutout to the Trea Turner Rule — as part of the Phillies-Astros swap involving Ken Giles. While he dipped his toe in the pro waters with four starts last season, it's his college numbers that make eyes pop. The 21-year-old right-hander walked only 18 batters in 376 1/3 innings over his three years at Cal State Fullerton for a career BB/9 of 0.4. Only seven Major Leaguers in history have posted a single-season BB/9 lower than Eshelman's career marks in college, and only one of them (Carlos Silva, 0.4, 2005) came after 1880.
Eshelman is only ranked at No. 15 in a solid Phillies system, however, because none of his individual pitches grade out as more than average. But if he keeps that control in the pro ranks for an extended period of time, his stock should jump in a big way.
In the MiLB piece, it says he's ranked 15th in the system, but MLB Pipeline has him ranked 13th in the organization. Projected to pan out as a back-end starter, Eshelman's fastball normally lands between 88-91mph and has a nice sink. In addition to his fastball, he also throws a changeup and a pair of serviceable breaking pitches.
In four starts last season between rookie ball and Advanced 'A' Quad Cities in Houston's system, Eshelman went 0-1 with a 4.35 ERA in 10.1 innings. 2016 will be the first full professional season for him, so the Phillies and their fans should get a better idea of Eshelman's ceiling, and floor, once the minor league season begins.
