TORONTO — Nate Pearson is adamant about being a sponge for new information. That internal philosophy is what led him to try out meditation during last year’s stint in the Arizona Fall League.
Pearson, 22, was rooming with fellow Toronto Blue Jays prospect Shawn Morimando, who’s four years older and an advocate of visualization techniques. It didn’t take much for Morimando to convince his teammate to give it a go. So, before each of his final few starts for the Surprise Saguaros, Pearson would head to the bullpen, slip on headphones and open the Pandora radio app on his phone.
“I was looking for something calming,” Pearson recalls. “Nothing too upbeat.”
With his eyes closed, the hard-throwing right-hander would envision a smooth delivery and his pitches dotting the strike zone with desired movement. The exercise required just five minutes, but the eventual results offered encouragement — Pearson tossed four perfect innings in his penultimate outing, followed by five shutout frames in his next start.
“I had some success. I’m not saying that’s the only thing that helped me but [I enjoyed] learning different techniques,” he says. “Keep your eyes open and don’t be so hard-headed and turn something down.”
Such gung-ho nature is among the many reasons the Blue Jays are excited about the six-foot-six Pearson, who was a first-round pick (28th overall) in 2017 and currently profiles as the organization’s top pitching prospect.
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“Nate really takes ownership of his own career,” says Gil Kim, Blue Jays director of player development. “It’s really impressive. With him being so proactive, he’s really a fun guy to have develop in the system because we’re constantly trying to keep up with him and best help him.”
An intercostal strain in spring training and a fractured ulna suffered in his first outing back essentially cost Pearson all of the 2018 campaign, save for his six AFL outings. As he sees it now, every step forward needs to be filled with purpose.
“I missed a crucial development year being injured,” says Pearson. “I’m making up for lost time.”
Pearson’s parents live in Oldsmar, Fla., roughly a 15-minute drive from the Blue Jays’ training complex in Dunedin. During each week in the off-season, he spent half his time at the Bobby Mattick Training Center and the other half training at the Applied Science and Performance Institute in Tampa.
He was at Rogers Centre this past weekend for the Blue Jays’ development camp and Winter Fest, but planned to head straight to Driveline Baseball in Seattle with the intention of working on his pitch design and learning more about his delivery and arm action.
“When we talk about commitment to routines and throwing programs, those are things that he’s researched on his own and he’s come up with ways that he thinks have been effective for him, and we’re here to support those,” says Kim.
Pearson’s strength has always been a fastball that can top 100 mph, but Kim notes the prospect has made significant strides with his breaking pitches. Pearson displayed a tighter curveball with improved action during his stint in Arizona, along with a sharp, effective slider. He is also beginning to gain an improved understanding of pitch sequencing.
“Even at my velocity, you’ve gotta be able to mix it in, get your breaking ball better, off speed working,” says Pearson, when asked about his biggest takeaway from the AFL. “Usually, I would throw a nice breaking pitch and would be like, ‘Oh, I wanna throw that again.’ But you have to pick your points when you can do that. It’s all about learning for me.”
He will likely begin 2019 in advanced-A Dunedin, the level he was at last season when he suffered his forearm injury on a comebacker. The next step the Blue Jays want to see Pearson take is simply pitch an entire season, something he has yet to do as a professional.
Pearson says his goal is the same. And if he can stay healthy and take the mound on his regular turn in the rotation this year, Pearson will have plenty of opportunities to refine his meditation routine, as well.
“I was telling all the front office guys that I wish the Fall League was another month long because I felt like I was just hitting my stride and just getting settled in,” he says. “I just gotta carry that momentum over to spring training and this season.”
