Expected starting affiliate: Triple-A Buffalo
YEAR IN REVIEW: After so much hype when he arrived in an empty Nationals Park in D.C. for his debut a year-and-a-half ago, Pearson, like so many top pitching prospects before him, has struggled to stay healthy and fulfill that lofty promise since. Here’s the laundry list of injuries that have forced Pearson, who had a screw inserted into his pitching elbow in high school when a growth plate fractured, to miss time since being drafted five years ago: Back tightness, fractured forearm, elbow tightness, groin strain, sports hernia surgery. In his lone healthy season in 2019, Pearson looked dominant and in sync for a career-best 101.2 frames, but he’s thrown just 63.2 innings total over the last two years. Pearson’s 2021 season was mostly a lost cause, starting with a nagging groin strain in spring training that he never fully recovered from and eventually resulted in off-season sports hernia surgery. Handed a difficult start on the road in Houston in May, Pearson’s command deserted him as he walked five batters and got just seven outs before the recurring groin issue sidelined him again. He was deemed healthy enough to as a reliever in September, finishing with 20 strikeouts across 12.2 innings and a 2.84 ERA down the stretch. Even at less than 100 per cent, Pearson looked electric out the bullpen, and his ultimate projection is slowly trending in that direction.
OUTLOOK: Pearson will be healthy for spring training and the Blue Jays are stretching him out as a starter. But GM Ross Atkins has already conceded there will be workload limits on 6-foot-6, 250-pound right-hander in 2022, which may lead to a hybrid role as the Jays try to get Pearson, who will turn 26 in August, up to around 100 innings. He could also spend time at Triple-A early in the season, trying to pitch deep into games and turn a lineup over three times. With the way pitching staffs are built these days, Pearson is likely to play a huge big-league role this season in a variety of situations, while trying to build an inning base that would allow him to return to the rotation in 2023. It’s a pivotal year for Pearson, but even though he’s shown his floor is that of a dominant, high-leverage reliever who’s ready to contribute now, don’t completely throw in the towel on a rotation future just yet. He may just have to take a bit of a winding road to get there.
MLB ETA: Debuted in 2020