5:16pm: Toronto has designated Font for assignment, Nicholson-Smith tweets.
3:39pm: The Blue Jays are activating right-hander Nate Pearson from the 10-day injured list and removing fellow righty Wilmer Font from their roster, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet was among those to report. It’s not clear what the Blue Jays will do with Font, but he’s out of minor league options, so they can’t send him down without possibly losing him.
Pearson, one of the game’s elite pitching prospects, hasn’t taken the mound since Aug. 18 because of elbow tightness. It’s obviously a relief for him and the team that he’s ready to return just over a month after that, as elbow problems often lead to far longer absences.
The 24-year-old Pearson made four appearances, all starts, for Toronto before going on the IL, but the club’s set to break him back in as a reliever, per Nicholson-Smith. Despite averaging 96.1 mph on his fastball, Pearson has struggled to a 6.51 ERA/7.65 FIP with 7.71 K/9 and 6.61 BB/9 in 16 1/3 innings this season.
Font, 30, has been a liability for Toronto in 16 1/3 innings this year. He owns a bloated 9.77 ERA (with a much more palatable 4.77 FIP) and 8.27 K/9 against 4.96 BB/9. Font has been victimized by a .448 batting average on balls in play against, though he also ranks toward the bottom of the league in several important Statcast categories.
shouldve cut Font earlier so he could play for three teams again this year
Welcome back Pearson. Could be a key bullpen piece in the playoffs before moving back to SP next spring.
Pearson has been a major disappointment this year. I was so excited to see this kid pitch against MLB hitters, but the early returns don’t look great. He needs to get a little more movement on his fastball somehow. Throwing a straight 96 mph fastball in MLB is like batting practice to some of the better hitters in the league. He should still become a solid #2 and possible ace but he has a little more work to do before he’s ready for that.
I’d relax a little regarding early returns with him. It’s only been 16.1 innings.
i think the thing is people were expecting him to make a big impact right away, which is not terribly much to ask out of an elite SP prospect who was only held down for service time reasons.
It is terribly much to ask of somebody who’d only pitched 120 innings of professional baseball — and 33 innings of college baseball. What starting pitcher has ever made a big impact 150 innings after getting out of high school?
He’s a kid, pitching in the bigs when he was projected to start in the minors on a regular year.
can we get an article on the Frontier League also becoming a partner league please ?
I have a weird feeling that Pearson is going to dominate in the post-season. Teams I want to watch in the postseason are the Indians, Astros, Reds, and Blue Jays.
It would be great if he dominated, maybe we will have a chance against the rays then.
I like our chances against T.B., Cash gets too cute sometimes and over-manages. Charlie has a real good feel for what’s coming, so it might come down to which manager outplayed the other. Ryu & Walker probably go games 1 & 2….bullpen will be critical from there I think, Strippling, Perason, Ray all sound good if used in the right situations.
Agreed. Montoyo cost them at least a couple wins against TB. Jays played them well. Jays bats show up they have a good chance.
Unquestionably an upgrade over Font. Any good Pearson can deliver in 2020 is great. Jays need him to take a step forward as a starter in 2021. He’s next year’s x-factor.
This is genius level insight and commentary right here, take notice everyone that didn’t know Pearson is an upgrade over Font.
Real good stuff.
@Briffle Back under the bridge you!
I’m glad you learned something last night. You missed the part about 2021. A lesser-than asked about Elvis Luciano. He won’t be part of the rotation next year.
Wilmer “Times New Roman”
I think of him as more of a sans serif guy
What the Helvetica were the Blue Jays thinking in picking Font up in the first place.
he’s been more comic sans this year. comically bad and sans good production. (dont mean to dump on him, just needed to throw out some puns)
it’s a good thing the trade deadline’s past. Brodie might have tried to trade three prospects to get him back.