Nate Pearson was supposed to be the next big thing for the Blue Jays. He was expected to become the best homegrown pitcher the club produced since the late Roy Halladay. Instead he leaves town having barely made an impact.
Pearson, who a few years ago was considered one of the top prospects in baseball, was traded to the Chicago Cubs on Saturday afternoon. In return, the Jays acquired minor-league prospects Josh Rivera and Yohendrick Pinango.
The surprise deal came approximately an hour after the Jays announced their more recent top pitching prospect, Ricky Tiedemann, was lost for at least a year because of Tommy John surgery. Two big arms gone in the blink of an eye as the Jays continued to make moves in advance of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Pearson arrived in the majors during the COVID-19 abbreviated season of 2020. He made his debut exactly one year after Bo Bichette and he was projected to become the ace of the staff after a meteoric rise through the system. Unfortunately for the Jays, he never panned out.
The girl and her family were at Friday night’s game on their annual vacation when Schneider
A wide variety of injuries prohibited Pearson from getting built up as a starter. The former first-round pick fractured his arm in 2018 after getting struck by a comebacker and during the ensuing years he dealt with a groin issue, a strained lat and a long bout with mono.
The setbacks robbed Pearson of much-needed development time. He never pitched more than 102 innings in a season and, in 2023, he was moved to the bullpen. Since then, there have been glimpses of greatness, but far too much inconsistency. He has a 4.82 ERA in 97 relief innings.
Unlike Friday’s deal that saw reliever Yimi Garcia dealt to the Mariners, this trade wasn’t expected. Pearson has at least two years of contract control remaining after this season and he figured to remain a part of next year’s bullpen.
Rivera is considered to be the better of the two prospects coming to the Jays. He was taken in the third round of last year’s draft, but is batting just .169 with a troubling .537 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in his first season at Double-A. He was ranked the Cubs’ No. 23 prospect by MLB Pipeline and reportedly has the “upside of a .260 hitter with 15 to 20 homers per season.”
Pinango split this season between Class-A and Double-A. The 22-year-old was ranked the Cubs’ No. 29 prospect by Pipeline and, according to l, the long-term hope is that he will eventually become a left-handed-hitting platoon option in left field. Pinango is batting .263 with a .797 OPS in 84 games this season.
Tiedemann will undergo season-ending surgery on July 30. The California native had thrown just 17 1/3 innings this season because of lingering soreness. He returned to Triple-A Buffalo in July following a lengthy absence but he made just two appearances before he was shut down a second time.
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Tiedemann was sent for at least three opinions on his left elbow before opting to go under the knife. He might return at some point late next year but likely won’t be back to full strength until the spring of 2026.
The 2021 third-rounder has tossed just 140 innings across three seasons and is nowhere close to being built up enough to start without restrictions. The only positive for the Jays is that he had yet to be placed on the 40-man roster, which means his minor-league options remain intact and he has yet to start accumulating service time.
Tiedemann became the third prominent Jays pitching prospect to undergo elbow surgery this year. Brandon Barriera, their No. 3 prospect according to Pipelne, and No. 13 Landen Maroudis underwent similar procedures earlier this season. All three are expected to be out for at least a year.
“Some of it is fact of life, some of it is risk that you take with any pitcher,” Jays manager John Schneider said. “The last couple years, we have been one of the healthiest organizations up and down. You try and stay ahead of it, it’s almost impossible to do. You look at everything from strength and conditioning, throwing programs. Our processes and programs have been pretty steady, but it has been a tough year.”
Oh, what could have been. A few years ago, Pearson was one of most valuable commodities in baseball and he’s gone for a pair of lottery tickets. Last off-season, Tiedemann might have given the Jays a shot at acquiring Juan Soto. Now one of them has left the organization while the other won’t be a factor until 2026.
Baseball can be cruel. Jays pitching prospects seem to know that better than anyone.
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