Nearing the homestretch of the 2024 season, it appears right-hander Eric Pardinho has weathered the storm of what&#8217;s surely been a frustrating two-month stretch following his triple-A debut with the Buffalo Bisons. 
The 23-year-old reliever has been excellent for most of this season. Amidst an injury-plagued professional career, the 5-foot-10 hurler &#8212; who signed for $1.4 million with the Toronto Blue Jays as an international free agent out of Brazil in 2017 &#8212; exploded back into the top prospect discussion with his dominating performance at double-A New Hampshire, where he pitched to a 1.01 ERA and punched out almost 35 per cent of his batters faced over 26.2 innings.
That remarkable stretch also included a scoreless streak of 22 consecutive innings, featuring 32 strikeouts and only five hits allowed. It also saw him register the first save of his pro career &#8212; spanning six seasons &#8212; while operating as a high-leverage reliever.
As a result, the Blue Jays organization delivered Pardinho a well-deserved promotion to triple-A Buffalo in June, during which he extended his streak of not surrendering an earned run to 23 innings, thanks to a scoreless frame in his Bisons debut.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Welcome to the Herd, Eric! <a href="https://t.co/lnLbaWOp5X">pic.twitter.com/lnLbaWOp5X</a>
— Buffalo Bisons (@BuffaloBisons) <a href="https://twitter.com/BuffaloBisons/status/1803127416367329526?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
But that incredible run came to a disappointing end in Pardinho&#8217;s next appearance, where he was tagged for four runs on four hits &#8212; including a home run &#8212; and a walk, departing without recording a single out. And things continued to snowball from there.
The young righty struggled to a 9.77 ERA and 7.50 FIP in 13 relief appearances from June 21 to Aug. 11. Walks became a major red flag in that span, as he issued 16 free passes and hit a batter across 15.2 innings. In comparison, he only walked 10 hitters in 21 double-A outings earlier this season.
There were some encouraging signs hidden in the eye of this storm, like Pardinho&#8217;s four-strikeout performance on July 9, matching his season-high for punchouts in a single game. Even so, he couldn&#8217;t seem to string together an extended run of success as he did earlier in the year, quickly falling back into his command woes.
Lately, however, things have looked far more positive.
Pardinho has been dialled in over the last few weeks, tossing 4.2 scoreless innings over his past four relief appearances, striking out six while allowing just a hit and a walk. Most recently, he reached back for a bit more velocity in his latest outing on Wednesday, throwing his hardest fastball (94.2 m.p.h.) since July 25.
Perhaps one element responsible for his recent resurgence is the extra rest he&#8217;s received between appearances, with the Bisons affording him at least two days off after entering a game. It could also be a solution to managing his workload down the stretch, given he&#8217;s at 48 total innings on the year, nearing last season&#8217;s career-high mark of 56.2.
With September call-ups arriving Sunday, there&#8217;s a chance Pardinho could pitch in the majors sometime next month, although he isn&#8217;t on the franchise&#8217;s 40-man roster, which is currently full. He&#8217;s also likely behind several other relievers who already own a spot on the 40 &#8212; including Hagen Danner, Brandon Eisert, Jose Cuas, Yerry Rodríguez, Luis Frías and Easton Lucas.
Nevertheless, maintaining this success through the remainder of the Bisons&#8217; schedule &#8212; which concludes on Sep. 22 &#8212; will be imperative for Pardinho, who&#8217;ll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this off-season.

Nearing the homestretch of the 2024 season, it appears right-hander Eric Pardinho has weathered the storm of what's surely been a frustrating two-month stretch following his triple-A debut with the Buffalo Bisons. 

The 23-year-old reliever has been excellent for most of this season. Amidst an injury-plagued professional career, the 5-foot-10 hurler -- who signed for $1.4 million with the Toronto Blue Jays as an international free agent out of Brazil in 2017 -- exploded back into the top prospect discussion with his dominating performance at double-A New Hampshire, where he pitched to a 1.01 ERA and punched out almost 35 per cent of his batters faced over 26.2 innings.

That remarkable stretch also included a scoreless streak of 22 consecutive innings, featuring 32 strikeouts and only five hits allowed. It also saw him register the first save of his pro career -- spanning six seasons -- while operating as a high-leverage reliever.

As a result, the Blue Jays organization delivered Pardinho a well-deserved promotion to triple-A Buffalo in June, during which he extended his streak of not surrendering an earned run to 23 innings, thanks to a scoreless frame in his Bisons debut.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Welcome to the Herd, Eric! <a href="https://t.co/lnLbaWOp5X">pic.twitter.com/lnLbaWOp5X</a>
— Buffalo Bisons (@BuffaloBisons) <a href="https://twitter.com/BuffaloBisons/status/1803127416367329526?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2024</a></blockquote>
But that incredible run came to a disappointing end in Pardinho's next appearance, where he was tagged for four runs on four hits -- including a home run -- and a walk, departing without recording a single out. And things continued to snowball from there.

The young righty struggled to a 9.77 ERA and 7.50 FIP in 13 relief appearances from June 21 to Aug. 11. Walks became a major red flag in that span, as he issued 16 free passes and hit a batter across 15.2 innings. In comparison, he only walked 10 hitters in 21 double-A outings earlier this season.

There were some encouraging signs hidden in the eye of this storm, like Pardinho's four-strikeout performance on July 9, matching his season-high for punchouts in a single game. Even so, he couldn't seem to string together an extended run of success as he did earlier in the year, quickly falling back into his command woes.

Lately, however, things have looked far more positive.

Pardinho has been dialled in over the last few weeks, tossing 4.2 scoreless innings over his past four relief appearances, striking out six while allowing just a hit and a walk. Most recently, he reached back for a bit more velocity in his latest outing on Wednesday, throwing his hardest fastball (94.2 m.p.h.) since July 25.

Perhaps one element responsible for his recent resurgence is the extra rest he's received between appearances, with the Bisons affording him at least two days off after entering a game. It could also be a solution to managing his workload down the stretch, given he's at 48 total innings on the year, nearing last season's career-high mark of 56.2.

With September call-ups arriving Sunday, there's a chance Pardinho could pitch in the majors sometime next month, although he isn't on the franchise's 40-man roster, which is currently full. He's also likely behind several other relievers who already own a spot on the 40 -- including Hagen Danner, Brandon Eisert, Jose Cuas, Yerry Rodríguez, Luis Frías and Easton Lucas.

Nevertheless, maintaining this success through the remainder of the Bisons' schedule -- which concludes on Sep. 22 -- will be imperative for Pardinho, who'll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this off-season.

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