How should Blue Jays use Nate Pearson in 2023?
The 26-year-old profiles best as a multi-inning reliever.
Ethan Diamandas
·Blue Jays Reporter
January 6, 2023, 11:07 a.m. ·4 min read
If he can remain healthy, Nate Pearson will give the Blue Jays a multitude of options out of the bullpen in 2023. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
I often think back to Nate Pearson's debut with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The big right-hander took the hill in late July 2020 and diced the Washington Nationals on the road for five shutout innings with five strikeouts. During a screwy COVID-shortened season that ended with the Blue Jays making the playoffs, Pearson's debut offered a glimmer of hope for the future. The stuff was there.
When the Jays faced the Tampa Bay Rays in a lopsided September postseason series, the rookie looked even better than he did in his debut. He tossed two innings of relief, hit triple digits with the heater, and punched out five of six hitters. Good gracious.
After his inaugural season, the Blue Jays' top prospect looked destined for a starting role. Not so fast. Pearson began the 2021 season on the injured list with a groin strain, which eventually ended up being a sports hernia that required surgery. He returned out of the bullpen in late 2021 but caught the injury bug again in 2022 (first mononucleosis, and then a lat injury). All told, Pearson didn't pitch a single inning with the Jays last season and has thrown just 33 career MLB innings.
So, with spring training several weeks away, how should the Blue Jays use Pearson in 2023? What should the expectations be?
Another chance at starting?
Spring training is more important for starting pitchers than any other position in baseball. Rotation guys need to loosen their arms, rack up a few bullpens, then build up their pitch counts a few increments at a time. A year ago, Pearson got sick in late March, sat out for weeks to recover, and never really had a shot at building the necessary reps to become a starter.
In 2023, it's even less likely (let's go ahead and call it impossible) that Pearson cracks the starting rotation. The addition of Chris Bassitt only deepens Toronto's starting five, and between Yusei Kikuchi and Mitch White, the Jays have multiple back-end options. It sucks to snuff his torch so early, but the 26-year-old won't be a starting pitcher anytime soon, not until he at least gets some serious major-league innings under his belt.
A multi-inning guy?
If you rule out Pearson's chances as a conventional starter, he becomes an intriguing weapon. Whether he starts the 2023 season with Toronto or in Triple-A Buffalo, the likeliest scenario sees Pearson in a multi-inning bullpen role. This way, he can get close to the innings of a starter, which he deserves, while also limiting the injury risk from an extensive spring training buildup.
The Blue Jays' top priority is to get Pearson innings. Whether he excels or gets cranked from foul pole to foul pole, the man just needs to pitch. As a pitcher, you earn intangible experience anytime you step on the mound. You need to iron out those skills while riding the adrenaline spikes of a fast-moving major-league ballgame.
In a limited sample size as a reliever, Pearson's been quite good (2.51 ERA, 22 Ks in 14.1 innings). He made 11 relief appearances in 2021, throwing 20 pitches or more in six of those games. That's probably the output we'll see from Pearson in 2023 – a sixth-inning guy who can roll into the seventh for an out or two before his pitch count gets too high.
Of course, there's always the chance he starts really hot out of the bullpen. In that instance, some very exciting possibilities await.
A max-it-out, high-leverage reliever?
Since Pearson's health began to sputter in 2021, there's been a dark, mystical beckoning (stoked largely by Blue Jays fans) that suggests his talents would be best used as a late-inning reliever or closer. While I'm not yet ready to condemn Pearson to a career of one-inning appearances, I can't deny the allure.
At 6-foot-6 and 255 pounds, Pearson is physically a good fit for a flamethrowing relief role. His arsenal plays, too, especially since he found most of his success in late 2021 with a simple four-seam and slider combo. The upside is very, very tempting.
At the same time, you don't want to bottle Pearson up so soon. Toronto will likely keep him decently stretched out this spring and play it by ear as the season goes along. Regardless of his role, Pearson will be one of several young Blue Jays players to keep an eye on in early 2023.
More from Yahoo Sports
LANSING, Mich.. (AP) — Just three months ago, Rep. Elissa Slotkin was one of the most vulnerable Democrats in Washington, fighting an expensive campaign for reelection in a Michigan district that Republicans were sure they could retake. That was all a distant memory recently as Slotkin sat beaming next to Sen. Debbie Stabenow at a Lansing luncheon commemorating Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Fresh off a surprisingly comfortable 5 percentage-point victory, Slotkin was eager to praise Stabenow, the d
Missing 21-year old woman found safe: Coquitlam RCMP
Coquitlam RCMP have confirmed a 21 year-old woman who went missing on Jan. 13 has been found safe. The woman's family, friends, and community members have also confirmed via posts on social media that she was located alive in Victoria, B.C., on Jan. 25 Police did not issue a missing-persons alert when the woman's disappearance was first reported, upsetting advocates pleading for her safety. RCMP say they received a report on Jan. 13, and the case remained a priority. A news release is issued if
Quebec faces ugly morning commute marred by heavy snow
Heavy snow will slow traffic to a crawl across much of southern Quebec through Thursday morning.
'Let's take the candy out of this': Viewers accuse M&M's of 'melting' in the face Fox News critics after Maya Rudolph hire
M&M's is getting slammed on Twitter after it announced on Monday that it's discontinuing its multi-coloured cast of candy spokespeople. Instead, its replacement would be the Saturday Night Live actress Maya Rudolph.
Immersion plan unanimously denounced as Saint John meeting draws large crowd
The Higgs government faced another angry, skeptical crowd Tuesday night as public consultations on its plan to replace French immersion in New Brunswick schools took place in Saint John. More than 300 people turned out, and all 27 who spoke at the meeting denounced the proposal to implement a new program in time for this fall. "It should go without saying that reducing French immersion by 50 per cent is not going to improve French," said parent Micah Peterson, who has five children in immersion
Ukraine corruption scandal claims several top officials
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Several senior Ukrainian officials, including front-line governors, lost their jobs Tuesday in a corruption scandal plaguing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government as it grapples with the nearly 11-month-old Russian invasion. Ukraine's biggest government shake-up since the war began came as U.S. officials said Washington was poised to approve supplying Kyiv with M1 Abrams tanks, with international reluctance eroding toward sending tanks to the battlefront against the Rus
The solid metal core of Earth doesn't rotate perfectly in time with the rest of the planet, and new research suggests that it may have reversed direction.
How WHO will decide if the COVID-19 emergency is over
The World Health Organization will soon decide if COVID-19 should still be categorized as a global public health emergency. WHO COVID-19 technical lead Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove explains to Adrienne Arsenault how that decision is made.