BOSTON — Two weeks ago, Steve Pearce was participating in a charity bowling event held by Josh Donaldson and the Jays Care Foundation in downtown Toronto. His wife, Jessica, was there, having just arrived in town with the couple’s daughter, Jensen, to spend time together as a family for the first time in far too long.
Near the end of the event, around 9:00 p.m., Pearce pulled his phone from his pocket and saw he had a missed call from his general manager, Ross Atkins. He was ready to leave any way, so he said goodbye to the teammates who were still there and left the venue, returning Atkins’ call on his way home.
"He goes, ‘hey, I just want to tell you before this thing hits the news — we just traded you,’" Pearce remembers, standing at his locker in the clubhouse of his new team, the Boston Red Sox. "I was like, ‘Shoot. All right. Thanks.’"
Pearce had just returned from six long weeks in Florida spent rehabbing an oblique issue he picked up in early May. He’d slowly built himself back up to game speed, stopped off in Buffalo for a four-game rehab assignment with the triple-A Bisons, and rejoined the Blue Jays midway through a seven-game road trip. Donaldson’s bowling event was the night after that trip ended.
Back home in Toronto, his family with him ahead of a nine-game homestand, Pearce was excited to finally be settled — to finally get back to normal. He had a pile of dirty laundry you wouldn’t believe. Then, he got that news from Atkins. He was off to meet the Red Sox, who were in the midst of a nine-game road trip themselves.
"It wasn’t ideal timing," Pearce says. "My family just got there and it was the first time I’d seen them in a while. And it was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got to leave you for another two weeks.’"
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Pearce doesn’t think he slept at all that night, furiously packing his belongings and trying to organize a way for his family to move out of their home in Toronto and meet him in Boston. He caught a flight to New York, where the Red Sox were playing the Yankees. He learned upon arrival that he’d be starting that night’s game, hitting clean-up in a contest that could prove crucial as Boston and New York battle for first place in the AL East.
Pre-game was a whirlwind. Meetings with teammates, examinations with doctors, scouting reports with coaches, interviews with media — he didn’t take a breath until he ran out on the field for the first inning. He led off the second against CC Sabathia. First pitch swinging, he shot a double into left field.
"That was actually the first comfort zone I had," Pearce says. "Walking up to the plate, I’m like, ‘finally, I’m done with all that stuff. I can actually do my thing now.’ That was the most comfortable I’d been that whole day."
All he’s done since is go 11-for-24 over his first nine games with Boston, belting a home run and four doubles. When you join a new team, you always want to make an immediate impact. But Pearce couldn’t have imagined this.
"It’s nice to start off with a bang," he says. "I was lucky I still feel good at the plate, even coming off the injury. I’m just able to keep the ball rolling. I’m not searching right now. I’m able to play the baseball I know I can play because I’m not worried about mechanics or health or anything like that. I’m good right now."
Of course, this is what Pearce does when healthy. The 35-year-old has long been a tantalizingly prolific hitter whose periods of productivity have been matched only by his periods of injury. In 2014 — his closest thing to a full season at 102 games — Pearce put up a .930 OPS. In 2016, it was .867 over 85 games.
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That was part of the bet the Blue Jays made on Pearce when they signed him to a two-year, $12.5-million deal following that season. If they could keep Pearce healthy and playing regularly — particularly against left-handed pitching, which he’s put up an .848 OPS against over his career — they could get elite production for a fraction of the cost.
Of course, things didn’t quite work out that way. Pearce went down with a right calf strain only six weeks into his Blue Jays tenure and missed a month. He battled a knee injury throughout the second half of the season and was eventually shut down in early September due to a back issue.
"That’s my career — I have trouble with nagging injuries," Pearce says. "My goal is to stay healthy because I know what I can do when I’m on the field and I’m feeling good. Half the time I’m just behind the eight ball, trying to find it, trying to get my legs back underneath me. It’s like I’m in spring training in mid-season. I’m always trying to battle back."
Pearce got off to a strong start in 2018, but was felled by injury again only a month into the season, this time missing seven weeks with the oblique issue. Only four games after his return, he was traded.
Ultimately, Pearce played less than a full season for the Blue Jays, batting .260/.325/.454 with 17 home runs. He wishes things went better; he wishes he could have been on the field more often. But when you’ve had a career like his, you gain some perspective.
"My time in Toronto was a roller coaster. It was a lot of ups and downs," he says. "I was hurt three times — four, probably five, if you count spring training. I was always just hurt and trying to find my footing. But, all in all, great friendships, great teammates, great experience — I loved it over there. I want nothing but the best for those guys."
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Between his rehab assignment, the road trip he ended his Blue Jays career on, and the one he began his Red Sox tenure on, Pearce went three straight weeks without a home game before the Red Sox returned to Boston earlier this week. Pearce is finally able to get to that laundry. Finally able to get his life somewhat settled ("My wife’s a trooper," he says). And, at the end of it all in a couple months’ time, he might finally get to play in the postseason for only the second time in his career.
"Getting traded, it’s part of the business. You’ve got to be willing to just go. That’s what you sign up for. It’s a sad day when you leave. But it was best for my career," he says. "To go deep into the playoffs, that’s what you play for. All the off-season preparation, spring training, the injuries, the grinding with your teammates — that’s the ultimate goal. You want to make it to the playoffs. You want to go deep and you want to win. And this team has a really good shot of doing that. So, I’m very pumped to be here."
