The Nate Pearson Debate

 Simon B

Nate Pearson.

If you're a Jays fan this name probably makes you think of the bright future this young ballclub has. If you're not a Jays fan, or maybe you're just getting into baseball this year, here's a bit of a backstory.

Who is he?

Pearson was drafted 28th overall by the Jays in the 2017 MLB draft. He quickly got the attention of many coaches, managers, scouts, and fans because of one thing: his velocity. 
The 6'5” ft Floridian would consistently light up the radar gun like crazy, hitting triple-digit speeds with his fastball as a 20-year-old. In this day and age, teams are all over youngsters who can throw pure heat. The thinking usually is that he's got the velocity so they'll develop and train him to get constant command of his pitches.

All this talk about this righty out of Florida who could get his fastball up to 102 mph skyrocketed him up to becoming the top pitching prospect in baseball.

From the Minors to the Majors

Pearson dominated his way through the minor leagues working on his command, which got better every level he played at. People did worry that his arm wouldn't be able to last very long as a starter because of how hard he throws. One of the big ideas with him was that he should be in the bullpen: that way he can throw harder for longer. 

But the Jays continued to develop him as a starter and he was showing a lot of promise.
Before the pandemic in spring training, the debate was all about when the Jays should call up their top prospect. He was probably going to start 2020 in the minors and then depending on how the season went, they might have called him up late in the campaign. Well, 2020 had different plans and that changed everything.

Pearson has battled a few injuries in his past and people were giving him the "injury-prone" tag. A lower-body injury slowed his development and his start to the season last summer but he finally made his major league debut last July against the Nationals in Washington.

So far, Not so good

Pearson looked alright in his first few starts (struggling with walks and command) in the MLB but another injury slowed him down once again and he was back on the injured list (IL) until late in the season. 

When he came back the Jays decided to listen to their critics, and they put Pearson in the bullpen for September and the playoffs. Coming out of the 'pen, he looked awesome! His velocity was blowing away hitters and he even recorded the fastest pitch in Blue Jays history at 101.2 mph.

Fast forward to spring 2021, Pearson was set to be the third starter on the major league rotation (behind ace Hyun-Jin Ryu and Robbie Ray). Then injury hit him again (along with a bunch of Blue Jays pitchers including Ray), and he wasn't even a consideration for the opening-day roster. He pitched in multiple simulation games where he struggled with command again. I think it's great to have a guy who can throw 100+ mph but if he can't consistently hit the strike zone, there's really no point in throwing that hard.

Last week, Nate made his AAA debut for the Buffalo Bisons and his numbers were decent so the Jays decided to call him up. Personally, I think it was still a bit early to call him up because he has really only played one game of pro ball since last September and he could definitely use more time to work on locating his fastball. But clearly the Jays front office thought now was the time.

Sunday, he made his season debut in the majors against the Astros but it didn't go as planned at all. He walked 5 of the 16 batters he faced over 2 and 2/3 innings of work and gave up three earned runs as he qualified for the loss. Quite the disappointment for Jays' fans and for Pearson, whose tone and expression said it all during the post-game "virtual" media scrum.

The Wrap

The Jays should leave Nate in Buffalo for 5 or 6 starts (about a month and a bit) and see where his command is at then before deciding whether to bring him back to the big club. They really can't rush this. I know he's already 24 and that time is running out for developing him but people need to remember that he’s only had 22 innings of big-league experience, so he still has a lot to learn before he becomes the ace we all hope he becomes.

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