Better know your Blue Jays 40-man: Nate Pearson

Nate Pearson will start the season on the DL, which leads to questions about whether he’ll be a starter or a reliever when he’s ready to return.

I hate when a team is undecided about using a pitcher in relief or the rotation. Pick the spot and leave him there, don’t go back and forth. I think Matt mentioned Kelvim Escobar in a GameThread the other day. The team could never decide what they wanted him to be. Then he gets to free agency, the Angels plug him into the rotation, and he becomes a much better pitcher.

There is the question of how many innings the team would allow Pearson to go this year. Would he be limited? He only threw 18 innings last year. But then he is 24 now. It isn’t like he is 19-22, with a body that was still maturing. I don’t know that limiting his innings will have that much value.

PECOTA predicts 24 starts, 121.1 innings, with a 4.55 ERA.

ZiPS also sees 24 starts, with 99 innings and a 4.00 ERA. I like their ERA better, but just 4 innings a start worries me. But I wouldn’t be all that surprised by the way they used the starters last year.

Both, of course, came before the injury.