Blue Jays prospect Nate Pearson made his MLB debut on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. against the Nationals. He was faced with the enormous task of dueling Max Scherzer but the two traded zeroes until Pearson exited after the fifth inning.
Pearson allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out five batters in his five frames. His fastball was consistently in the 94-96 range, pairing it with a slider in the mid-80’s. Pearson didn’t find himself in much trouble, as he only had to deal with Adam Eaton on third base with two outs in the first inning, runners on first and second with two outs in the third, and a leadoff double from Eric Thames in the fourth. He was able to get out of each of those situations without any damage.
The Jays selected Pearson in the first round (28th overall) of the 2017 draft. He began 2019 with High-A Dunedin but was quickly promoted to Double-A New Hampshire before finishing the season with three starts for Triple-A Buffalo. In aggregate, the right-hander posted a 2.30 ERA with 119 strikeouts and 27 walks over 101 2/3 innings. Now he’s showing he can potentially translate those numbers to the majors.
99 MPH AND painted? 😳🔥 pic.twitter.com/5yxIiTUUji
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 29, 2020
