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Posted at 11:00 AM EST.

7:10 PM EST. We’re going to take a shot here on the Orioles, as they are coming off a nice weekend against the then-hot Indians and could carry some of that positive momentum into this series. The Rays will play to an empty house with the O’s in town on a Monday and may show up in body only here. It’s a good spot and a great price. For Tampa, it’ll be another one of their bullpen starts so there is nothing to discuss. We’ll hope that the Orioles offense that got red-hot on Friday and Saturday puts up three or more to give us a chance. That’s a reasonable request. 

Hello little known Tom Eshelman (RHP - BAL). Having a little known pitcher starting for the Orioles is probably a good thing. Furthermore, many of these young Orioles played with Eshelman in the minors and they figure to get a little extra jacked up in support of their friend in his MLB debut. 

Drafted in the second round in 2015 and acquired from Houston in the Ken Giles trade, Eshelman is an advanced control right-hander with four fringe-to-average pitches. The fastball sits average, lacking plane but staying off barrels with subtle cut and run. The change is his best secondary offering, flashing average with slight fade and drop, while the benders both project as below-average offerings. He has a feel for both pitches but his calling card is control, as he shows a preternatural ability to throw strikes, and his short arm action and high release point add deception.

If you think his pro walk rates are impressive, over three years of starting at Cal State Fullerton, Eshelman posted a walk rate of 0.43 per nine innings. He's a four-pitch guy with a bushel of grades right around average dotting the profile, except that he was obviously one of the best command-and-control artists in the minors. A veritable Tewksbury in Training, Eshelman made a name for himself by walking 17 batters in 362 innings at Cal State Fullerton. Batters, tired of failing to work counts, gave up and swung at every pitch. Independent of home plate, none of his pitches inspires awe, but his ability to hit spots has served many a Radke and Quisenberry well, limiting baserunners and forcing batters to string together hits. As the third-most interesting prospect in the Giles deal, it'll be fun to watch Eshelman try to put it together. Eshelman has paid his dues and has put together very good back-to-back seasons at Triple-A Lehigh. He’s not going to dazzle but he throws strikes and he can hit spots like nobody else. At this price, we’re very willing to see what happens. 

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