Blue Jays prospect Nate Pearson dominates in triple-A debut

Nate Pearson had a strong start in his debut but the Buffalo Bisons lost 4-1 to the Rochester Red Wings.

Toronto Blue Jays pitching prospect Nate Pearson allowed three hits and struck out three across seven scoreless innings in his first triple-A start for the Buffalo Bisons on Tuesday.

Not a bad way to celebrate your 23rd birthday.

The right-hander retired 11 Rochester Red Wings’ batters in a row to end his night and tossed 55 strikes on 88 pitches as the Bisons lost 4-1. He also reportedly touched 99 m.p.h on three pitches in the seventh inning.

Pearson joined the Bisons, Toronto’s minor-league affiliate, from double-A New Hampshire, where he posted a 1-4 record with a 2.59 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 69 strikeouts and 21 walks in 62.2 innings of work over 16 starts.

The 22-year-old was selected in the first round (28th overall) by the Blue Jays in the 2017 MLB Draft.

The six-foot-six, 245-pound flamethrower is the Blue Jays’ No.2 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.