ICYMI - Adversity has fuelled Blue Jays' top prospect Pearson
Nate Pearson. Photo: Lukas Weese
*As Nate Person gets ready for his first major league regular season start with the Toronto Blue Jays this evening, we thought we would re-run Canadian Baseball Network writer Lukas Weese’s profile of the hard-throwing right-hander that was originally published on our site on March 18.
March 18, 2020
By Lukas Weese
Canadian Baseball Network
DUNEDIN, Fla. - The sun was trying to pierce through the clouds on a warm Monday morning. It was March 9 and the wind was calm, a soft breeze.
There was a quiet buzz in the air. Eager fans who got to TD Ballpark well before the first pitch were rewarded with a possible glimpse of the future.
They huddled along the right field line to watch right-hander Nate Pearson, the Toronto Blue Jays’ top prospect. It was his off day, but he was still bringing his A game.
There was no pitch clock, but his Spring Training performances have demonstrated that he can unleash his fastball at 99-100 miles per hour.
As spectators manoeuvred to take pictures of the prospect, Pearson never changed his demeanour. It’s a fabric of his personality that has allowed him to succeed on and off the mound.
Pearson pitched three days later against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He went two innings in the Blue Jays' 7-5 victory at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla., giving up two hits, and one earned run while recording two strikeouts.
This was the last spring game for the Blue Jays. Major League Baseball suspended all baseball activities and pushed the start of the season back to May 9 at the earliest due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With Pearson’s status as a non-roster player, he will be making his way home to Odessa, Fla.
For many minor leaguers, not knowing when their next game is going to be can be overwhelming.
According to Jeff Swymer, Pearson’s high school baseball coach for the Bishop McLaughlin Hurricanes, the 23-year-old will use this adversity as motivation to fuel his performance once he makes it to the big leagues.
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“Nate is very internalized, not showing a lot of emotions on the mound” Swymer said. “I think a lot of that is because the kid has been dealt some crappy hands health-wise.”
While he was working with some kids in the batting cage, Pearson, then a junior, and his parents introduced themselves to Swymer.
Very soon after, Pearson suffered a right elbow fracture in training, forcing the teenager to miss his junior season.
It was during Pearson's rehab that Swymer learned a great deal about him.
“He was a team guy,” Swymer said. “He was at every practice and every game we played. Even though he was injured, he completed rounds of physical therapy and cleaned up his diet to stay in shape. There was a competitive fire that helped feed his offseason while rehabbing.”
When Pearson finally pitched for the Hurricanes, he made an instant impact. The 6-foot-6 junior was throwing 80-82 mph fastballs, with room to improve. According to Swymer, what was even more impressive was his ability to throw strikes at his age, given his size.
“Most young players with an overpowering arm throw lots of walks,” Swymer said. “Nate’s senior year going into the playoffs, he had close to 200 strikeouts and six walks. It’s just unheard of for a power arm type of pitcher.”
As a senior, Pearson went 9-1 with a 1.75 earned-run-average and 117 strikeouts. His most notable game at Bishop was the 3A Regional Final against the Orangewood Christian Rams.
The Bishop Hurricanes were ranked No. 2 in the state while the Orangewood Rams were number three.
Pearson started and the Hurricanes scored seven runs in two innings before a rain delay. Swymer left him in the game and the Rams stormed back to tie the game at seven.
Pearson was down on himself.
But in the bottom of the seventh inning he launched a 480-foot home run, sending the Hurricanes to an 8-7 victory and into the state semifinals.
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Florida International University was Pearson's only big scholarship offer.
Despite making 19 starts, going 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA, coaching changes and the team culture propelled Pearson to transfer to the College of Central Florida.
With Marty Smith as the head coach of the Central Florida Patriots, Pearson began to feel more at ease and garner the attention of major league scouts. Not only did he record a 5-2 record, with 81 innings pitched, a 1.56 ERA and 118 strikeouts, but some of his pitches were clocked at 103 mph.
“The year Nate was with us, we weren’t very good,” Smith said. “He got other pitchers better by watching him and what he did. I’m convinced he will do this with the Blue Jays. There will be guys who watch him work and be inspired by what he does.”
Pearson went from being on very few radars to a first-round pick in the 2017 major-league draft, selected 28th overall by Toronto.
The injury bug followed Pearson to the minor leagues. In his second season, with the class-A Advanced Dunedin Blue Jays, he broke his ulna in his right forearm on a line drive that cost him another year.
“It’s freak accident stuff,” Swymer said. “It drives a lot of the fire he possesses in competitive situations.”
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Pearson returned last year to start in Dunedin, posting a 3-0 record, 0.86 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 21 innings and was promoted first to double-A New Hampshire, then to triple-A Buffalo.
“No one has bigger expectations for myself than I do,” Pearson told the Canadian Press. “So I’m just focused on what I need to do to get better and let the rest take care of itself.”