Blue Jays takeaways: Nate Pearson isn’t the first pitcher to struggle adjusting to the big leagues

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This article was published 09/05/2021 (1649 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The view from Deep Left Field on the Blue Jays’ 7-4 loss in Houston on Sunday:

Nate Pearson made his season debut on Sunday after been delayed by a groin injury in spring training, and he struggled mightily before being pulled in the third inning.

The big right-hander couldn’t find his release point or the strike zone, throwing only 28 of his 64 pitches for strikes and issuing five walks while facing 16 hitters. And, for the first time in his brief big-league career, the kid with the golden arm had an outing in which he didn’t strike anybody out.

Pearson, 24, had a disappointing debut season last year, posting a 6.61 ERA over four starts before getting hurt. But he returned to make two fantastic appearances out of the bullpen, including one in the playoffs, and entered this season as the top right-handed pitching prospect in baseball.

He may have been shaken a bit when the Blue Jays sent him to Triple-A after his groin injury healed and, though he struck out eight in 3 2/3 innings with Buffalo, he may have felt he had to prove himself again Sunday. Once he gets past that, and he will, he will likely do a better job of figuring things out on the days when he’s having trouble finding his command.

Jays fans are familiar with the story of Roy Halladay,who was sent to A-ball after posting a then-MLB record-high 10.64 ERA in 2000. That happened after 231 major-league innings. Pearson hasn’t even had 22. Clayton Kershaw had an ERA over 5.00 through his first nine major-league starts; Greg Maddux got under that number in his 37th start.

Rare is the player, especially the pitcher, who hits the ground running and never looks back. Baseball continues to be hard, no matter how good a prospect is.

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• Welcome back: As the Jays churned through reliever after reliever through the early part of the season, using 15 different pitchers out of the bullpen — more than half are or have been on the injured list — one name was conspicuously absent.

A.J. Cole, who had a 3.09 ERA over 24 appearances last season, had spent the entire year on the taxi squad, waiting for an opportunity. The six-foot-five right-hander pitched two perfect innings in his first outing Sunday, needing only 24 pitches.

With Julian Merryweather, Rafael Dolis, Anthony Castro and David Phelps all injured, Cole could wind up getting some high-leverage innings sooner than later.

• Quick strike: Down 7-0 going into the fifth inning, with channels changing across the country, the Jays kicked it into gear offensively, getting back in the game over a span of just five batters.

Rowdy Tellez crushed a slow curveball from Zack Greinke into the seats in right to get the inning started, then Reese McGuire and Marcus Semien both singled and scored on a Bo Bichette double. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. brought home Bichette, singling the other way to snap a personal 0-for-13 run and send Greinke to the showers.

It was an astonishingly quick comeback, getting the tying run to the on-deck circle minutes after trailing by seven, once again showing that this team is hardly ever out of a game. The Astros bullpen made sure it stopped there, though, allowing only two hits the rest of the way.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness