Pearson faces turning point year in 2022

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LAKELAND, Fla. — The next 12 months might define the trajectory of Nate Pearson’s career.

Starter or reliever? Consistently dominant or flashing and frustrating?

There are so many ways things could go for the big Toronto Blue Jays righty.

If you ask Pearson, the 25-year-old fully believes his long-term future resides in the rotation, and right now the organization is holding out hope that’s the case, too.

“I think I’ve always been a starting pitcher, it’s all I’ve done since I got to pro ball,” Pearson said Monday after his spring debut against the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland. “Obviously, I went to the ‘pen last year, but I still have starter’s stuff. I have four pitches and guys in the bullpen usually have two pitches. It’s kind of just focusing on the whole arsenal and just go from there.”

There are many variables at play for Pearson heading into 2022.

Now healthy after sports hernia surgery last year, there’s going to be some sort of innings limit in play, but that’s well down the road and the Jays will be happy if he hits it simply because that means he’s held up physically.

“You’ve gotta be careful of the innings when you look at him and you look at his development so I think some kind of shorter role at times might be good for him early on,” Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker, said after keeping a close eye on Pearson’s outing Monday. “Right now, we’re planning on stretching him out and keeping him as a starter, but that bulk role is interesting this year to kind of control his innings and be able to utilize him at the major-league level.

“Winning games is important and if he’s one of the best arms, we’re going to consider all our alternatives.”

Getting around 100 quality innings out of Pearson