Pearson scores Dunedin invite
Top prospect will be one of 12 non-roster invitees at Jays training camp
Blue Jays top prospect Nate Pearson will headline a group of non-roster invitees when the players report to major league spring training in Florida starting next week.
The 23-year-old is one of 12 prospects who will join the big club in Dunedin, joining fellow right-handers Bryan Baker and Ty Tice, lefties Travis Bergen and Kirby Snead, catchers Riley Adams and Alejandro Kirk, infielders Nash Knight, Kevin Smith and Logan Warmoth and outfielders Josh Palacios and Forrest Wall, the club announced on Friday.
Kirk and Smith were ranked 12th and 13th among Blue Jays prospects last season, according to MLB Pipeline, while Adams was 27th. This year’s rankings have yet to be released.
Six of the 12 invitees — Pearson,
Baker, Tice, Snead, Palacios and Wall — spent time with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons is 2019 and are among the most likely to make the jump to the big leagues at some point in 2020.
Bergen, 26, made his bigleague debut with the San Francisco Giants last year after Toronto lost him in the 2018 Rule 5 draft, posting a 5.49 ERA in 19 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. The Giants were eventually forced to return Bergen to the Jays per draft rules; he finished the season with a 3.00 ERA in three appearances for the Bisons, recording one save.
How close Pearson is to being big-league ready and when the Jays might decide to recall the 23-year-old flame thrower promises to be one of the biggest storylines out of spring training, though he is unlikely to break camp with the team. Pearson, with a fastball that can touch over 104 miles per hour, is the second-best right-handed pitching prospect in baseball, according by MLB Pipeline. He made three starts for the Bisons last August, posting a 3.00 ERA in 18 innings.
“I’m pretty confident in my abilities now, especially making it up to Triple-A and facing some big-league hitters that were there in my few starts,” Pearson said last month. “I know I can compete with the best of them and I’m pretty close to being ready. Obviously they want me to work on a few more things. If I have to start the year in Triple-A Buffalo, I’ll just work on the stuff they provide me to do and hopefully I’ll get the call-up soon.”
Toronto also announced Friday it has signed left-hander Brian Moran to a minor-league contract with an invite to major league spring training. The Jays also reportedly agreed to terms with free-agent reliever Jake Petricka on a minor-league deal with an invite to big league spring training, according to baseball writer Robert Murray.
Moran, selected in the seventh round of the 2009 MLB draft by the Seattle Mariners, made his major-league debut as a reliever with the Miami Marlins last year, posting a 4.26 ERA over 61⁄3 innings while striking out 10 batters. The 31year-old minor league journeyman, who was selected by the Jays in the 2013 Rule 5 draft only to be traded to the Los Angeles Angels, missed the 2014 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He posted a 3.15 ERA in 43 games for the Triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes in 2019.
Jays fans will be familiar with right hander Petricka, who spent the 2018 season in Toronto’s bullpen, posting a 4.53 ERA in 452⁄3 innings. He pitched eight innings in relief for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2019, registering a 3.38 ERA.
Pitchers and catchers report next Wednesday with their first workout the following day. Position players are expected to report by Feb. 16, with the first full squad workout on Feb. 17.
Toronto begins Grapefruit League play on Feb. 22 at the New York Yankees.