It’s been a longtime coming for hard throwing right handed pitcher Nate Pearson, who has ties to the city of Vancouver.

The Toronto Blue Jays 1st round selection in the 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft, Pearson routinely gets his fastball up over 100 mph, and has a nasty slider to go along with it, keeping hitters on their toes at all times.

Pearson pitched for the Low-A Vancouver Canadians in 2017, where he allowed just two runs and tallied 24 strikeouts through 19 total innings pitched.

He’s dominated at every level he’s been at, and at 24 years of age, the Blue Jays are being as careful as possible with him — especially because he’s run into multiple injuries so far in his young career.

He made his MLB debut against the Washington Nationals last year, but was unable to stay healthy, as he made just six appearances last season.

🔥 @big_nate5's debut = GREAT! #WeAreBlueJays pic.twitter.com/lbJxqisyOw

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 29, 2020

Pearson has been recovering from a groin injury that he suffered prior to the season getting underway, and is set to make his first start of the 2021 season today against the Houston Astors. First pitch is at 11 AM Pacific Time.

Earlier this week, Pearson pitched in Buffalo with the Blue Jays’ AAA team on a conditioning stint. He performed well and is feeling good, and the organization feels that they are doing the right thing by being patient with him and his recovery.

“Thinking about what’s best for Nate’s career, his limited time that he’s had in the minor leagues and just how valuable we see that being and the ability to really hone his craft, he is a candidate (to start for the Blue Jays this Sunday),” general manager Ross Atkins said earlier this week. “But we need to balance with that ability for him to maximize the time in the minor leagues, create some consistency for him. And, we’ll take that one step at a time.”

Expect Pearson to go out and dazzle with his lights-out stuff. Especially with that deadly fastball of his.