TORONTO — Things were much different the first time Nate Pearson arrived in the big leagues nearly three years ago.
As a ballyhooed starter joining a rebuilding rotation, the expectations were much different.
In the middle of a pandemic in D.C. in an empty stadium on that July evening back in 2020, the setting was much different, too.
In the time since Pearson, the 28th overall pick in the 2017 draft, debuted all the way up until now, a lot has gone on, a lot has changed, and a lot has been learned.
He slowly morphed from full-fledged rotation piece to multi-inning question mark to the one-inning relief role that he’s in now.
It’s a role that suits both him and the Toronto Blue Jays best.
Over the first three weeks at Triple-A, Pearson had been trying to prove to Jays decision-makers that he could help the big-league bullpen with his swing-and-miss stuff.
Thanks to an Adam Cimber back muscle injury that landed the veteran side-armer on the IL on Monday, the opportunity Pearson had been waiting for has arrived.
“I’ve definitely grown mentally,” Pearson said as he sat in the home dugout at Rogers Centre on Monday afternoon. "More at peace and accepting of whatever outcome as long as I’m competing. There’s definitely a lot of peace in that. I’m healthy, feel good and it makes me happy just to be able to be here and help the boys out earlier in the year. The last two years I haven’t made it out of spring training so we’re already off to a good start.”
The list of injuries that have set Pearson back is a long one.
Everything from mononucleosis to a lat strain to groin issues have cropped up over the past two-and-a-half years since Pearson’s debut in Washington against the Nationals.
Despite all the setbacks, Pearson’s arm has stayed intact, leading him to this point in a much different role than the one originally envisioned as he dominated the minor leagues in 2019 to become one of the best pitching prospects in baseball.
Over this past off-season, the Jays really narrowed Pearson’s job description and it has allowed him to focus in.
“It just simplifies it,” Pearson said. "I know I’m going to go out there for a short amount of time and just compete and get outs and get the guys back in the dugout to hit. Just trying to make it as quick as I can and limit how deep I go into each batter and just compete, that’s all I’m really focused on.”
“He’s been back and forth, starter, reliever, bulk guy, and I think really kind of diving into the reliever role has been really good for him,” manager John Schneider added. “I think messaging that to him in spring training was kind of a sigh of relief for him and I love the way he’s gone about it so far.”
The club’s focus this off-season and into spring training was on getting Pearson to throw more strikes, with 60 being the key number.
“The velo is there, obviously, but what’s been most encouraging to me is 60 per cent strikes with all three of his pitches and that’s kind of been a goal for him,” Schneider pointed out Monday. “We set that out in camp and executed it fairly well and it kind of carried over into the season. The stuff’s electric and I think when he’s in the zone he’s really tough.”
With his heater back touching triple digits and the slider showing bite, the gameplan isn’t tricky when Pearson’s number is called.
Fill up the zone and go after hitters with elite stuff.
“I think just get ahead early and attack hitters,” Pearson said of his mindset as a short-stint reliever. “Try to get them out as quick as I can whether it’s a strikeout, ground ball, weak contact.”
He’s also doing it with another weapon that he’s more comfortable with this time around, as Pearson, the relief version, ditched his changeup and has gone with a slower curveball in order to keep hitters off balance.
“It’s definitely played a big role down in spring training and in Triple-A,” Pearson said of the hook. "If it’s really working, I’ll just keep going to it and I’ve been getting a lot of strikeouts on it.
“(It’s) definitely (about) velo separation. I’m not looking for anything too analytical movement-wise. As long as I’m in the low-80s (with the curveball) and the fastball’s in the upper-90s, I think that separation is big time and they tunnel pretty well so that’s really what I’m focused on.”
There’s one teammate in particular who’s curious to watch where Pearson’s career goes from here.
Jordan Romano, who went through his own starter-to-reliever transition during the early stages of the 2019 season, is a supporter of both the move to ‘pen Pearson, as well as the move to get him to the big leagues now after he struck out 16 across 8.1 frames at Triple-A.
“I think he could’ve done great as a starter, but in the bullpen I feel like that’s where he’s really going to thrive,” Romano said. "I mean, he throws 100 with a couple nasty breaking balls, right? That plays pretty well out here.”
