JUNE 28: Pearson will be shut down from throwing for 3-4 weeks before being reevaluated, the team informed reporters (including Kaitlyn McGrath of the Athletic).
JUNE 24: Blue Jays righty Nate Pearson, who’s been on a minor league rehab assignment after a lengthy bout with mononucleosis, exited his most recent rehab appearance due to an injury and has now been diagnosed with a lat strain, tweets Sportsnet’s Arash Madani. The Jays don’t have a timeline yet for when Pearson might be able to return.
It’s the latest setback in a career that has, to this point, been full of unfortunate injuries and health troubles for the ultra-talented Pearson. A former first-round pick who ranked as the sport’s top overall pitching prospect just a couple years ago, Pearson has dealt with elbow, groin and shoulder injuries since making his MLB debut in 2020.
Pearson enjoyed a scintillating MLB first start that year, firing five scoreless frames against the Nationals and regularly hitting triple digits with his vaunted heater. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been healthy enough to follow up with more outings along those lines. Pearson did have an impressive run with the Toronto bullpen down the stretch in 2021, pitching 12 2/3 innings of 2.84 ERA ball with a 20-to-7 K/BB ratio with a fastball that was averaging 98.5 mph in short relief.
If Pearson can get healthy in 2022 or at any point down the line, the 25-year-old clearly has the ability to serve as a key piece of the Toronto pitching staff, be it in the rotation or out of the bullpen. The timing of his current setback is unfortunate, as it comes just a week after the Blue Jays learned that they’ll be without Hyun Jin Ryu for the rest of the year (and much of next year) following Tommy John surgery. Pearson probably wouldn’t have been built up as a rotation option right off the bat, but he’d likely have returned as a multi-inning option out of the ’pen that could help to absorb some of Ryu’s lost innings — perhaps in a role similar to the one Ross Stripling had before stepping into Ryu’s rotation spot.
The other unfortunate aspect of Pearson’s injuries, at least from the team vantage point, is that he’s still racking up service time and working through his six years of club control, because the majority of the injuries he’s incurred have happened while he’s been on the big league roster. Pearson is currently on the Major League 60-day IL, and despite having appeared in just 17 big league games, he’s all but certain to finish out the 2022 season with more than two years of service time. The Blue Jays still control him for four years beyond the current campaign, but needless to say, this isn’t how they hoped the promising young righty’s first two years of service would play out.
In the short term, what figures to be another absence of some note figures to only further the Toronto front office’s search for pitching on the summer trade market. The Blue Jays’ bullpen currently ranks 24th in the Majors with a collective 4.38 ERA, and while the rotation is sound with Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Stripling and Yusei Kikuchi, the loss of Ryu has already thinned out the depth a bit.
This poor guy never gets to pitch. So much potential and always injured.
“It’s the latest setback in a career that has, to this point, been full of unfortunate injuries and health troubles for the ultra-talented Pearson.”
Some guys have all the luck
Some guys have all the pain
Some guys get all the breaks
Some guys do nothing but complain
Nate Jinxson.
…In other news; water is wet.
Just release him!
Yes please!
29 other teams dressed in mustaches: Yeah, release him!
It seems like Nate Pearson is the pitching version of Adalberto Mondesi.
Except way more talented
AA needs to get his friends from Toronto on the phone and buy low on Pearson.
Offer them Swanson while he’s on a roll and maybe get some additional lottery tickets.
Are you out of your mind? Swanson for Pearson is the opposite of buying low. That is buying 400% more than you should. Historically awful take.
Pearson plus lottery tickets now that Swanson is rolling. Once he falls off he won’t bring much. And it’s not like QOs exist anymore.
Also “historically”??? Nothing related to a discussion concerning Dansby Swanson and Nate Pearson could have that descriptor. I promise you if this is historical, then I probably have some earth-shattering takes on other small news topics.
Pearson’s injuries and most recent performance carry huge reliever risk. Even if he is a lights out high leverage guy thats an overpay. Are you trading Swanson for Devin Willams?
A guy who’s played every game for 3 years for a guy who’s been on the IL for almost all that time while being mediocre when he’s on the field. It’s more like 9000% overpay.
Of course, the Blue Jays are the last team that needs an infielder. But we’ll take him and flip him, sure.
Also is anyone else absolutely amazed Yusei Kikuchi somehow will have made almost $60 million in the MLB when his contract is up in 2024?
He’s a quad A pitcher that throws turds to home plate. Derek Lowe was a guy that delivered 4 eras consistently and that was desirable because he was game to game consistent. And I hated watching every start Derek Lowe made for the Braves.
Kikuchi is doodoo butter, wildly inconsistent start to start.
sanchez 2.0. . jays should make him a reliever like they should have sanchez.
If the Jays had made Sanchez a reliever, they’d have underutilized his great season and not been anywhere near the playoffs in 2016. Glass bodies are glass bodies wherever you put them, and relief is certainly the more physically-demanding role on a per-inning-of-value-extracted basis.
If Pearson pitches this year he’ll be a reliever, but that’s because there’s no time to stretch him out before he gets hurt again.
Nate Pearson should be a picture boy for all MLB, on how not to train…
Dump or trade him. He’s done.
Take a look at that sketchy bullpen…. they need Pearson in there late in the season throwing gas.
Can’t throw gas when you’re on the IL all the time. Guy can go pitch for an Indy team. Jays need actual players that can contribute to winning today not 10 years down the road. Jays have the pieces to trade up for a better pen
Great talent, but availability is perhaps the most important skill and sadly to this point he doesn’t have it.
even if he does get back up the the majors he’s never going to stay healthy enough to be reliable piece for a rotation.
Guy didn’t work out for the entire lockout and people wonder why he’s always hurt lol
Pearson is a 1 inning pitcher. Being saying it for years. Stretching him out is causing all these injuries. He is a thourobred horse and won’t be successful any other way. Make him a closser now.
this guy has some bad luck. at least he never got caught masturbating in his car at a dollar store parking lot in the middle of the afternoon….
And the guy who did that is now in Chicago. The Jays are just fine at C without him.
Did I miss something here? Who are you referencing?
Reese McGuire 2 years ago got arrested for doing what Ricetto said.
He sounds like an Angel already
I still believe he will one day put together a full season as a starter… just hope it’s for the Jays
the Rick DiPietro of baseball
All these injuries at 25! It only gets harder the older he gets. His window of opportunity is closing. His biggest mistake was believing all the hype and saying himself that he was going to hit 110mph. Pitching is about changing speeds and throwing any pitch in your arsenal in any count. It is not about how hard you throw.
Just my thoughts….