Tom Eshelman’s calling card as a pitcher has always been his control, so it makes sense he managed to wrangle whatever emotions were bothering him in his first inning as a major league pitcher.
Eshelman’s debut was good enough to win, but the Orioles didn’t after their bullpen surrendered four runs in a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night. The 25-year-old right-hander’s five innings of two-run ball came less than a month after the Orioles acquired him.
The Houston Astros’ second-round draft pick in 2015 when Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias was Houston’s scouting director, Eshelman was part of a package sent to the Philadelphia Phillies for closer Ken Giles that offseason.