SAN FRANCISCO – The success enjoyed by Garrett Crochet, Reynaldo Lopez and former teammate Jordan Hicks in moving from the bullpen to the rotation this season isn’t lost on Nate Pearson.
And it’s prompted the Toronto Blue Jays reliever, a starter until a series of injuries derailed his progress, to ask himself if they can do it, maybe he can, too?
“I’ve definitely considered it, I’ve always wanted to be a starter,” Pearson said before the Blue Jays roughed up Hicks for five runs over 4.1 innings in a 5-3 victory Thursday over the San Francisco Giants. “Obviously the past couple of years before this haven’t really gone my way in terms of health, the guys we’ve signed, the roster spots and everything. So right now I’m coming out of the ‘pen, trying to help our team win, whether it’s one inning, two innings. Looking into next year, if that’s an option, then I definitely want to explore it. That’s something I’ll have to sit down and talk with them about, see what the need is. But I’m definitely open to it, definitely would love to get another shot at it.”
The idea of stretching Pearson out is one that the Blue Jays have bounced around in the background of a season in which attrition has badly thinned out the club’s pitching organization-wide. Any shift in plans for the 27-year-old will need to wait until the off-season, when a proper training plan could be put in place to build him up for the jump, but both Crochet and Lopez are All-Stars this season while Hicks, even after allowing home runs to Danny Jansen and Spencer Horwitz among the eight hits he surrendered, has a 3.79 ERA in 95 innings over 19 starts.
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That alone won’t change the Blue Jays’ thinking, but “it just gives you a better understanding of the possibilities, you know what I mean?” said Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker.
“We’ve always considered Nate to be a potential starter in the major leagues, I don’t think that will change,” he continued. “Will he get the opportunity again? I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Right now, he’s still finding his niche and learning how to pitch out of the bullpen, which a lot of guys do. You learn a lot about yourself, how to compete in tough situations, how to make adjustments, realizing where your pitches have to be and that location is really important, even if you throw hard. He’s learning a lot right now and I could see him being a starting pitcher again, for sure.”
The Blue Jays’ plans for 2025 will be a driving force in how they proceed of course, as right now they have Kevin Gausman, who spun a seven-inning, two-run gem at his former team before an Oracle Park crowd of 30,064, Jose Berrios and Chris Bassitt to anchor their rotation, along with Yariel Rodriguez, another former reliever they’re trying to convert back into a starter.
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With Alek Manoah recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery and Yusei Kikuchi a pending free agent expected to be traded before the July 30 trade deadline, that leaves a gap in the big-league rotation. Injuries to near-term prospects Ricky Tiedemann and Adam Macko make for a tenuous depth picture. The bullpen needs help, too, and Pearson can be a big part of that, but turning him into something akin to Hicks, if not a Crochet or Lopez, would certainly alter the club’s organizational picture.
“It’s definitely encouraging to see Hicks being a reliever for years over in St. Louis and then transitioning, making the jump and being pretty successful so far this year,” said Pearson. “And then Crochet, watching him throw earlier this year, he wasn’t even a (full-time) starter in college, now he’s in the rotation, throwing pretty well. So definitely, I feel, (it) helps me out for other people to see that is possible to make that transition. I guess only time will tell. Finish out this year, hopefully put up some good numbers and then look forward to next year.”
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Lopez had 97 career big-league starts under his belt before joining Atlanta’s rotation this year so his return to the role isn’t necessarily as out of the blue as that of Crochet, who made 13 starts in college and none in the minor-leagues before this year’s strong campaign with the Chicago White Sox. Hicks has yo-yoed between roles, starting eight games in 2022 before relieving full-time last year.
Regardless of the path, what they’re doing isn’t nearly as easy as they’re making it look.
Pearson made one start in 2022 before moving to the bullpen and last year logged 63.1 innings between triple-A Buffalo and the Blue Jays. This year, he’s at 36.1 innings in 38 games, all in the majors, and is figuring out how to use his overwhelming repertoire while “having a full season of doing it, and that’s not easy,” said Walker.
“That’s where he is,” he continued. “But you see it certainly. You know the upside of having a starting pitcher, and that was always the thought of the organization. For now he’s continuing to learn how to pitch and that door is always open.”
For a Blue Jays organization suddenly very short on pitching, that door very much has to be.
