The Blue Jays still intend to let Pearson prove himself at Triple-A Buffalo before promoting him to the majors, which could push his big-league debut to 2021 if there isn't enough time in a shortened 2020 season for him to do so, Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic reports.

EDGE Analysis

"We have to make the decision on what we feel will be best for his development," general manager Ross Atkins said this week. "Rewinding to three weeks ago, we thought that would be starting the year [with Pearson] in Triple-A. I would say that we most likely will still feel that way, but there's still so much more to the equation and so much more information to come." While there's an argument to be made that the team's top pitching prospect should get called up sooner, as he could make a bigger impact in the standings during a shortened campaign, the Jays remain committed to his long-term development and won't speed up the process. Given how he looked this spring, Pearson could easily dominate the International League for a few weeks out of the gate before forcing his way into the Toronto rotation. Any struggles or setbacks, however, and he could miss his window to debut in 2020.