Blue Jays prospect Nate Pearson untouchable in spring debut

The biggest story of spring training for the Toronto Blue Jays is sure to be the continued development of pitcher Nate Pearson, the team’s top prospect.

With a Paul Bunyan-like mythology surrounding him, the 6-foot-6, 245 pound 23-year-old routinely posted eye-popping speeds on the radar gun with his fastball, and the idea of him being a part of the team’s rotation in 2020 is tantalizing.

Pearson took the mound for the first time in a competitive game this spring on Tuesday afternoon, starting the game for the Blue Jays in split squad action against the New York Yankees.

The results? Just about as good you could ask for.

Pearson faced three batters and struck out all of them, registering the trio of strikeouts — one looking, two swinging — while throwing only 12 pitches in the frame.

All the usual caveats apply, it being spring training and all, but there couldn’t possibly be a much better start to the season for the team’s most prized player outside of the 40-man roster.

The stadium radar gun wasn’t operating (again, it’s spring), but a look over the shoulders of some scouts from the Fan590’s Mike Wilner reported that Pearson was sitting between 97 and 99 mph in the inning, with his slider hitting 90 mph. Yikes.

The man behind the plate, catcher Reese McGuire, also had plenty of good things to say about the three batter debut. “He was almost closer-like out there,” McGuire said to TSN’s Scott Mitchell. “Just pumping fastballs and everything by everyone.”

Again, it’s just spring training, and the first week at that, but fans have every right to be optimistic about Pearson’s skillset and opportunity to join the roster in 2020. Aside from Hyun-Jin Ryu at the top of the rotation, there isn’t a backlog of high end starters blocking the way for Pearson to step into a spot before long. After a handful of games at Triple-A to prove himself at that level, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him step into a major league role before the All-Star break.

It was only a one inning sample, but what an inning it was.

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