Blue Jays calling up top prospect Pearson
TRENTON » It turns out top prospect Nate Pearson only needed one start in Triple-A.
The Blue Jays are calling up the hard-throwing right-hander, and he is expected to pitch for Toronto in some capacity against Houston on Sunday. Pearson was scheduled to start for the Bisons on Sunday against Worcester.
Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told reporters in Houston Pearson could start on Sunday. Pearson left the team in Trenton to travel to Houston on Saturday.
“It was perfect timing for him (on Sunday), to start, so that was one of the main reasons we’re doing it,” Montoyo said to the Toronto press corps. “So we’ll feel good about him coming here and starting the game.”
Ranked the No. 10 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, Pearson started the season opener here in Trenton for the Bisons as he worked his way back from a right abductor
strain suffered during a March 1 spring training game. He tossed 3.2 innings (78 pitches/ 53 strikes), struck out eight and walked only one. He consistently sat in the upper 90s with his fastball and touched 100 mph about a handful of times.
“When I’m commanding my heater, everything else kind of falls into place. Everything else fills up the zone as well,” Pearson said. “That’s why I got as many strikeouts as I did, because I was attacking early, putting guys away. When you get that first-pitch strike it sets up whole atbat. You can go many different ways.”
The 25-year-old right-hander was Toronto’s first-round pick in 2017 (28th overall) and got to the big leagues during the abbreviated 2020 season. He appeared in five games (four starts) and pitched to a 6.00 ERA in 18.1 innings, sometimes struggling with his command (16 strikeouts; 13 walks), although he held opponents to a .209 batting average.
He flashed his potential when he struck out five in two perfect innings — touching triple-digits in velocity — against the Tampa Bay Rays in
the AL Wildcard Series.
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When Pearson gets to Houston, he’ll find first baseman Rowdy Tellez already there.
Tellez was recalled by the Blue Jays on Friday after they placed infielder Joe Panik on the 10-day IL with a left calf strain.
Panik first felt tightness in his calf while running the bases during Wednesday night’s game in Oakland. The 30-year-old veteran was slashing .226/.241/.302 in 19 games.
Tellez, 26, began the season with the Blue Jays, but was optioned to the alternate site on April 28 after a slow start in which he slashed .183/.222/.267 in 18 games. The 6-foot4, 225-pound slugger was 3-for-10 with a home run and two doubles in three games for the Bisons.
Tellez originally burst onto the big league scene in 2019 when he belted 21 homers and drove in 54 in 111 games. He then posted a .283/.346/.540 slash with eight homers and 23 RBIs in the abbreviated 2020 campaign.