Another Ryu Hyun-jin successor falls.

Nate Pearson (27, Toronto Blue Jays), who seemed to be on the cusp of a second baseball career as a bullpen arm, has been sent to Triple-A. Toronto sent Pearson to Triple-A and recalled Thomas Hatch for a three-game series at home against the Baltimore Orioles.

Pearson still has a minor league option on him, so it was easy for Toronto to send him to Triple-A. After all, he had just hit a grand slam off Anthony Santander against Baltimore two days earlier in Hyun-jin Ryu’s return game.

Pearson was the fourth pitcher to enter the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. After starter Hyun-Jin Ryu was pulled after five innings of four runs, Trevor Richard pitched one scoreless inning, but Genesis Cabrera struggled, giving up three runs on three hits and one walk in one inning. Still, no runs were allowed to cross the plate, allowing the offense to mount a final comeback with two outs.

Old habits die hard. He induced Ramon Urias to ground out to shortstop on a 95-mph fastball and Ryan McKenna to fly out to first on a 96-mph fastball, but then walked Jose Mateo, Adler Lurchman, and Ryan Mountcastle to load the bases. Suddenly, he was seeing a lot of pitches outside the strike zone.

Santander fired his fastest pitch of the day, a 98.8-mph fastball, but it was also outside the strike zone. Finally, on a full count, he lined a seven-pitch 97-mph fastball over the wall for a towering grand slam. His seventh home run of the season. He got Austin Hayes to fly out to center field, but the score was already 3-11.

In 32 games, he’s 5-2 with a 5.31 ERA, 3.1 WHIP, and 1 save. After battling through a slew of injuries and pitching struggles since being drafted 28th overall in the first round in 2017, he finally seemed to find his groove as a bullpen arm this year, but his pace dropped off in June. June and August ERAs of 8.71 and 4.63, respectively.

When Ryu signed a four-year, $80 million deal with Toronto in free agency for 2019-2022, the Toronto media expected Pearson to be the next ace in the Ryu pillar, but Pearson hasn’t lived up to expectations at all. While he seemed to rebound in the bullpen while Ryu was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, he never quite lived up to the hype.온라인바카

When Ryu returned after a year and two months away, Pearson was sent down to Triple-A. He may be back on the major league roster, but we may not see Ryu and Pearson combining to win games for Toronto forever. Toronto’s bullpen is even stronger with the addition of Jordan Hicks. There’s no room for Pearson to shine, and he’s on the verge of another downfall.