Blue Jays top pitching prospect Nate Pearson joins Bisons

The Toronto Blue Jays today announced that RHP Nate Pearson has been promoted to the Buffalo Bisons from the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The top pitching prospect in the Blue Jays system, Pearson is expected to make his Triple-A debut with the Herd tonight in Rochester (7:05 p.m., ESPN 1520 AM).

Pearson, who turned 23 years old today, was the Blue Jays 1st round pick (28th overall) in the 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft and currently ranks as MLB.com's #14 overall prospect in baseball (#2 for righty-handed pitchers). 

Pearson has split the 2019 season between Single-A Dunedin and at Double-A New Hampshire, combining to go 4-4 with a 2.15 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 22 starts and 83.2 innings of work. Opponents are hitting just .174 against the 6'6", 245 righty this season and he has yielded just seven home runs to the 400 batters he's faced in his three-year minor league career.

With New Hampshire this season, Pearson has allowed more than three runs in a start only once in 16 outings. He has 69 strikeouts in 62.2 innings of work with the Fisher Cats.

Video: Fisher Cats' Pearson with the W

Pearson also pitched a scoreless inning in this year's MLB Future's Game in Cleveland, hitting 102 mph on the radar gun.