Orioles hire forgotten former pitcher to help spearhead their pitching development

The Baltimore Orioles are one of those organizations that like to stay connected to their history with the personnel they lean on. Long-time members litter the Orioles' minor league coaching ranks, and the most obvious example is, of course, Cal Ripken Jr. joining the Orioles' ownership group. It is honestly pretty endearing in a world where most players in MLB are essentially paid mercenaries who go to the highest bidder.

That trend continued recently, but it was with a former Orioles pitcher that most fans would probably struggle to remember ever playing in Baltimore. On Tuesday, the Orioles hired Thomas Eshelman to help coordinate pitching development in the upper levels of the minors.

Orioles hiring Thomas Eshelman follows a familiar trend

If you are a fan of the Orioles and forgot about Eshelman and his tenure in Baltimore, you are forgiven. While he did play part of three seasons in the majors with the Orioles, that only amounted to 31 total appearances with a combined 5.77 ERA. Those appearances also represent the only time Eshelman played in the majors, though he did spend time with the Padres after that before retiring in 2022.

Given that pitching has been a weak spot in the Orioles' development pipeline, it certainly can't hurt to add someone who appears to be a highly regarded pitching mind who isn't far removed from being a player himself. The proof will be in the results, and one minor league pitching coordinator can only do so much, but this feels like a step in the right direction.

If Eshelman were immediately able to start churning out promising MLB arms, it would make for such a great story. However, the most likely outcome remains that Baltimore will have to spend a few years getting their pitching development back on track.

One just hopes that Eshelman, as a forgotten former player who comes back and ends up being a savior for the franchise that gave him a shot at the big leagues in the first place.