Jays’ Pearson is just taking off
Top pitching prospect hopes to make up for lost innings this winter
The season maybe be winding down for many minor-league baseball players, but Nate Pearson is hopeful his year is only getting started.
The Blue Jays’ top pitching prospect told the Star over the phone from Florida on Monday that he was starting three weeks of instructional league play this week, which he hopes will lead to a spot in the Arizona Fall League alongside such other top prospects as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio.
“I’ve just got to get innings … because I don’t really have any on the year, so winter ball somewhere is going to be the way to go,” Pearson said. “Hopefully it’s the Arizona Fall League because that’s a really good league and a lot of good competition … it would be fun for me.”
A pair of freak injuries limited Pearson, a 22-year-old righthander capable of throwing over 100 miles an hour, to 11⁄ innings during the regular season.
He strained the intercostal, a muscle between his back ribs, during practice two days before his first start, sidelining him for about a month. When Pearson returned, he suffered a non-displaced fractured ulna, a long bone in his forearm, when he was struck in the right arm by a 95-mph liner off the bat of Bradenton outfielder Tyler Gaffney in a Florida State League game.
“It definitely hurt,” said Pearson, who was drafted 28th overall in the 2017 draft. “It all happened so quick. I just remember after it hit me, I couldn’t really move my hand. At first I was like, ‘All right, maybe it’s just going to go away in the next minute or so, maybe I can stay in the game.’ Then it just got worse, I couldn’t even move my arm.”
Something was definitely wrong, Pearson said. X-rays at a local hospital showed a straightforward fracture. He spent four to six weeks in a cast before rehab could begin.
Inopportune injuries are nothing new to Pearson, though. In his junior year of high school, he developed an olecranon stress fracture, right at the knob of his elbow. The only way for it to heal was to put a three-inch screw in the elbow, something many thought could jeopardize his shot at a career in the big leagues. But the injury fully healed and Pearson’s strengths, particularly his fastball, returned.
This season’s injury was far less complicated than the one he suffered years earlier. Pearson took solace in the fact he had prevailed before.
“You’re kind of like, ‘Man, I can’t believe this is happening again, I’m going to have to go through this,’ ” he said. “But then I looked back at my old injury and I can tell what I’m going to go through mentally and physically ...
“Since I (had) been through it before, it was a lot easier coping with it, just focusing on the positives and getting myself in the best position to get back ready.”
While he was waiting for the fracture to heal, Pearson took “Pitching 101” classes set up by the organization for a group of pitchers rehabbing in Florida. They would watch pitchers with the Jays’ high Class-A affiliate in Dunedin or go see Tampa Bay Rays games, dissect their routines and outings and see what they could apply to their own performances. Pearson learned about pitch selection in particular, how it is different for every guy and which pitches he can throw when.
He started throwing at the beginning of July. He tossed his first bullpen session in late August and pitched in an exhibition game between the low Class-A Lansing Lugnuts and Michigan State University, working two scoreless innings and hitting 102 miles per hour on the radar gun (according to Lugnuts commentator Jesse Goldberg-Strassler).
Pearson won’t consider this year a lost season if he’s able to make up for lost innings in winter ball. His inclusion there will be decided after he pitches in instructional league, Pearson said. He wants a chance to get better at his craft before next spring training.
“I always want to get better after each outing,” he said. “Take what I can and just always try to get better each time I’m out there.”
He’s also somewhat thankful for the freak nature of his injuries, that they didn’t occur while he was throwing
“I didn’t have any mental blocks like that or worry that I’m going to hurt my shoulder or elbow,” Pearson said. “I was able to stay focused and not worry about that stuff so much.”
“You’re kind of like, ‘Man, I can’t believe this is happening again.’ ”
NATE PEARSON ON HIS INJURIES