Phillies' Tom Eshelman: Gives up five in rough outing
Eshleman (0-2) got the loss Monday, as he threw 3.1 innings and gave up five earned runs on seven hits, while striking out three and walking none in the Grapefruit League loss to the Red Sox.
The 23-year-old struggled Monday, and his performance highlighted what makes him such a polarizing prospect. On the one hand, he won't walk many batters -- he only gave up 13 free passes in 121 innings pitched at Triple-A last season -- but he won't strike out many either, as he had a 5.95 K/9 rate in 2017 with Lehigh Valley. The injury bug's hit the Phillies' rotation, however, as Jerad Eickhoff (lat) and Mark Leiter (forearm) are both out for an extended period of time to begin the year. This reopens the competition for the fifth rotation spot, and although Eshelman will likely begin the year at Triple-A, he could be added to the 40-man roster in order to replace Ben Lively, Zach Eflin or Jake Thompson, should either of them fail to adequately fill the role.