Article: Top Prospect Trey Yesavage Is Starting for the Blue Jays Tonight

[Leo Morgenstern]

Trey Yesavage threw his first professional pitch for the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays on April 8, 2025. One hundred and sixty days later, he's getting ready to throw his first major league pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays. At some point in the next six hours, the Blue Jays will officially select his contract from Triple-A Buffalo. The 22-year-old will make his MLB debut the same year he made his Single-A, High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A debuts. If he takes to this challenge as well as he took to the last four, the Blue Jays will have a new secret weapon for the final two weeks of the regular season.

The news of Yesavage's promotion was both a shock and a long time coming. On the one hand, it's unusual to see a prospect rise through so many levels so quickly. On the other hand, it was clear the Blue Jays were going to be aggressive with the righty as soon as they gave him his first promotion back in May. Once he had made it to Double-A New Hampshire by June, speculation about a late-season MLB debut began in earnest. After his promotion to Triple-A Buffalo in August, that speculation went from wishful thinking to a very real consideration.  On Saturday, it went from a real consideration to a reality.

Yesavage came out of the bullpen in two of his September outings with the Buffalo Bisons, leading Blue Jays fans to wonder if the team was preparing him for a role in the big league bullpen during the final weeks of the season. Yet, manager John Schneider revealed Yesavage would start tonight instead.

It's not hard to understand the rationale behind Schneider's decision. The Jays are in the middle of a stretch of 13 games without a day off. If Yesavage weren't starting today, it would have been José Berríos. Berríos hasn't looked his sharpest over the past couple of months, and an extra day off could do him some good. 

It's also worth keeping in mind that Yesavage has far more experience starting than relieving. To that point, Schneider noted that one reason the Jays decided Yesavage would start in his debut was to make it "as normal as possible for him."

On top of that, it's far more exciting for the fanbase that the star prospect will be starting in his MLB debut. We don't have to sit around wondering when he might actually get in a game. Instead, we know exactly when to watch to see the electric rookie throw his first pitch as a Blue Jay.

This doesn't mean Yesavage is joining the rotation permanently. The Blue Jays haven't decided (or if they have, they aren't saying) whether his next outing will be another start or a bulk appearance out of the bullpen.

Whatever the Jays decide, however, workload concerns won't play into their decision. While the organization reportedly gave Yesavage the choice between shutting down for the season or going to the big leagues (I wonder who on earth would choose the former), they aren't worried about the young hurler's workload. Schneider made it clear that Yesavage won't be held to a restrictive pitch count or innings limit. He's with the team to pitch, and that's exactly what he's going to do. 

The fact that the Blue Jays aren't imposing any restrictions on Yesavage only makes it all the more clear how much confidence they have in his arm. This isn't an act of desperation on Toronto's part. Yesavage is with the team because, as Scheider told reporters, the Jays view him as one of the best 14 pitchers in the organization. They want to win, and they're confident that having Yesavage on the staff increases their chances of doing so.

In 25 games (22 starts) across four minor league levels, Yesavage has struck out 160 batters – that's one for every day between his professional debut and his MLB debut. Tonight, he'll bring that strikeout stuff to the majors for the very first time. Hopefully, his first strikeout for the Blue Jays will be the first of many, many more to come.

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