Jays put top pitching prospect Nate Pearson on injured list with elbow tightness

"He's going to go on the IL and we'll go from there and see where he is," Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said on his daily Zoom call with reporters. "Last night he let us know that he was feeling tight. The good news is that he was feeling better this morning. But of course, he's one of our big prospects so we decided to put him on the IL."

Pearson, 23, is considered one of the top young arms in all of baseball after rocketing through the minors in 2019 and getting to Buffalo at the end of the season. But he has struggled in his first tour of the big leagues this year, particularly with his fastball command, as he has no decisions in his four outings with a 6.61 earned-run average. Montoyo said it's unclear if Pearson, who has 14 strikeouts and 12 walks in 16 1/3 innings, will be going for an MRI on his elbow.

"We're going to go through all the tests to see where we are," Montoyo said. "But the good news is he was feeling better than he did last night so we'll be careful with him."

The Blue Jays had Pearson in position for his first major-league win Tuesday night by staking him to a 7-3 lead over the Orioles but he failed to retire a batter in the fifth inning and left after giving up five runs in four-plus innings. Montoyo said Pearson had not mentioned any sort of elbow problem.

"If he would have said something, we would have taken him out but he never said anything," Montoyo said. "It was after the game."

The Blue Jays have called up Jacob Waguespack to replace Pearson and Trent Thornton is coming off the IL to rejoin the rotation. Pearson's trip to the IL means he's likely out of the loop to pitch here next week, when the Jays host Boston and Baltimore.

Montoyo said Thornton and Chase Anderson will be the starting pitchers in Thursday's 1:05 doubleheader in Sahlen Field against Philadelphia.