Pearson shaky in 2021 debut: 'It's me vs. me'

Nate Pearson hung his head in the visitors’ dugout at Minute Maid Park on Sunday while his team was still playing the field in the third inning. Pearson’s long-awaited season debut had been much less efficient and far shorter than he or his team had hoped for.

With five walks and no strikeouts through 2 1/3 innings, Pearson exited quietly in a 7-4 loss to the Astros. The Blue Jays’ No.1 prospect never settled in and never found his groove. The command issues that plagued him in limited action in 2020 have now carried into this season.

“Obviously, he didn’t do what we expected from him,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “He couldn’t find his release point, so he struggled the whole time.”

The height of those struggles came in the second inning, when Pearson walked the first two batters and threw 11 consecutive balls. He later walked Michael Brantley with the bases loaded to bring in the game’s first run.

Pearson’s “free passes” were true to that moniker on Sunday -- all five walks were issued on either four or five pitches. He now has 18 walks in 20 1/3 career MLB innings (7.97 walks-per-nine), after posting a 2.3 BB/9 rate in the Minors. On top of that, Houston’s hitters whiffed just once on 16 swings against Pearson, a disconcerting sign for a guy with an 80-grade fastball and three off-speed pitches.

As pitch after pitch sailed errantly, Blue Jays catcher Reese McGuire resorted to setting up middle-middle over the plate. It was a back-to-basics approach, but even that didn’t work.

Pearson said he’ll need to re-watch his start to pinpoint specific issues, but he didn’t believe his mechanics were “terrible.” When he spoke to reporters, his focus was on the broader concept of competing against hitters in every at-bat.

“It’s, ‘See mitt, hit mitt,’” Pearson said. “It’s me vs. me. I obviously think about [the] mechanical stuff, but once I get out there, I try to just compete against the hitter. And that’s about it.”

Pearson exited with a 3-0 deficit, and the Blue Jays never recovered. They did post a four-run fifth inning, chasing Zack Greinke before he could record an out in the frame, but ultimately, Houston kept Toronto at an arm’s length all day.

It’s still far too early to make any sweeping assessments of Pearson, but there is a fairly immediate decision to be made: Does his next start come with Toronto or Triple-A Buffalo?

Montoyo did mention in his postgame comments that Pearson will be “working with Pete Walker, one of the best pitching coaches in baseball,” but when pressed on Pearson’s next step, his answer was far from definitive.

“The game just ended,” Montoyo said. “So we've just got to assess over the next day or two to see what the next start is gonna look like.”

Already, Pearson was the Blue Jays’ 12th pitcher to start a game this season -- more than any other team. As a rotation, though, they’ve thrown the fewest innings in the Majors. Depth and dependency are still lacking.

But whether Pearson’s next start is in the big leagues or not, he’ll have plenty more tries at the highest level. Keep in mind that since suffering an adductor strain in Spring Training, Sunday was only his second time facing hitters in game action.

It’s clear that the Blue Jays love the makeup of Pearson. He’s big, he’s strong, he can clock triple-digits, and he has already flashed his electric potential (striking out five in two relief innings during the 2020 Wild Card Series).

Consistency is the next step. And even though the Blue Jays want Pearson to contribute to a playoff-caliber team right now, that consistency may take longer than they’d hoped.

“The one thing about somebody who has good stuff, sometimes you gotta be patient,” Montoyo said. “He’ll get it. The sky’s the limit with this kid, and again … it’s gonna take time.”