Blue Jays Minor League Recap: Yesavage Works Through Command Issues, While Berríos Dominates

[Simon Li]

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (April 21 – April 22)

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
Series vs. Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians): 1-1
Season Record: 11-12

Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats 
Series vs. Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies): 0-2
Season Record: 8-7

High-A Vancouver Canadians
Series vs. Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels): 2-0
Season Record: 8-9

Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays
Series vs. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins): 1-1
Season Record: 9-8

Triple-A Buffalo Bisons

• Season Record: 11-12
• Series Opponent: Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals)

April 21: Tuesday was hopefully the last Trey Yesavage day in the minor leagues. With him on the mound for Buffalo, there was building hope and anticipation that the team could get back to .500 and then finally break through that barrier. It wasn't meant to be, as Yesavage struggled with his control in the game and made some costly errors as well. In the top of the first inning, Yesavage made a fielding error and a throwing error on a ball hit to him after a walk to Travis Bazzana, which allowed Bazzana to score. The next batter singled, driving in another run and putting Buffalo in a 2-0 hole. In the top of the third, Yesavage gave up a lead-off double, walked the bases loaded, then walked in a run, before being pulled from the game. His replacement, Brendan Cellucci, couldn't stop the bleeding, as he gave up a sacrifice fly to the first batter he faced. Yesavage's final line was 2.1 innings pitched, two hits, four runs (two earned), four walks, and only two strikeouts. Hopefully, he did enough to make his next start for the big league club, because the results weren't there at all. At the plate, you could say the hitters followed Yesavage's lead and didn't put up much of a fight. They got an RBI double from Josh Kasevich and an RBI single from William Simoneit. Simoneit ended up raising his average for the season up to .318. The rest of the team struggled, as they only totaled four hits for the game and fell to Columbus 5-2, dropping to two games below the .500 mark. 

April 22: In the second game of the series against the Columbus Clippers, Buffalo got some lights-out performances from the bullpen to slam the door and take the win. Austin Voth started the game and had some trouble in the first two innings. He ended up surrendering three runs (two unearned), thanks to an error by second baseman Carlos Mendoza. Voth wouldn't make it out of the third inning, and once the bullpen came into the game, Buffalo pitchers cranked up the swing-and-miss stuff. Jorge Alcala, Chase Lee, Michael Plassmeyer, Brendon Little, and Jesse Hahn would combine to throw 6.1 innings, not allow a run, strike out 12, and give up just one hit. Little pitched in his seventh game since being demoted from the big league club, and his ERA still stands at zero. It might not be too much longer before he gets called back up to the Toronto bullpen. Mendoza made up for his first-inning error by helping to tie the game up at three in the fifth inning. He had an RBI single, and Yohendrick Pinango added another run on a sacrifice fly. Buffalo continued to fight, especially when Columbus relief pitcher Daniel Espino came into the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Pinango led the inning off with a single, Charles McAdoo was hit by a pitch, then RJ Schreck singled to load up the bases. Riley Tirotta came up to the plate and worked a bases-loaded walk, scoring Pinango to take the lead. The walk was Tirotta's third of the game, to go along with a single. After Espino was replaced on the mound by Jake Miller, Rafael Lantigua added to the Buffalo lead with an RBI single. The Bisons would turn to Hahn in the ninth, and he came through, striking out two and securing the win for Buffalo, 5-3. 

Double-A New Hampshire

• Season Record: 8-7
• Series vs. Reading Fightin Phils (Philadelphia Phillies)

April 21: The series kickoff against the Reading Fightin Phils on Tuesday was one to forget for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The Fisher Cats struck first in the fourth inning, when Jace Bohrofen launched his sixth home run of the year. New Hampshire starting pitcher Jackson Wentworth made it through 3.2 innings clean, but then the rails came off, and he came crashing down. With two outs in the fourth, the Fightin Phills scored nine runs. Bryan Rincon homered, Austin Murray homered, and Alex Binelas hit a grand slam. In the eighth inning, down seven, Sean Keys continued his torrid hot start to the season, this time with a home run on a line drive to left field. New Hampshire would lose this one 9-3. 

April 22: The Fisher Cats struggled against the Fightin Phils for a second consecutive day in this one. They only managed six hits and two runs, with Alex Stone driving in a run on an RBI single in the seventh inning and Jorge Burgos scoring on an error as well. Alex Binelas kicked off the scoring in the fourth with a two-run home run against New Hampshire starting pitcher Chris McElvain. McElvain went a solid six innings and just surrendered the two runs, but Reading took the lead in the eighth on an RBI triple and a sacrifice fly. New Hampshire couldn't get the offense going again, as they fell 4-2.

High-A Vancouver 

• Season Record: 8-9
• Series vs. Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels)

April 21: The Blue Jays and the Canadians both played series with the Angels and their High-A affiliate, respectively. The Canadians started off the season slowly, just like their major league club, and both hoped to turn it around. Vancouver came out guns blazing, as the recently promoted Peyton Williams got the game going in the first with a sac fly, before Jacob Sharp knocked in two more runs on a single to put the Canadians up 3-0 without looking back. Landen Maroudis seems to have put his rough 2025 behind him, as he once again had a strong start, going the longest he’s gone all season and striking out four again. His returned velocity has also come with improved command, as he didn’t walk a single batter. The offense continued to tack on runs, as Matt Scannell took the lead to five in the third on a two-RBI single, and in the fourth inning, they exploded for seven runs, as they batted around the Dust Devils. Gilberto Batista got the win, but struggled a bit with his command, walking three batters and only striking out one. He would have gone unscathed if not for a Williams throwing error, but instead gave up three unearned runs. The Canadians tacked on another four runs, and Juanmi Vasquez had his first scoreless appearance of the season to end it off. Seven of the Canadians hitters had two hits or more, and Arjun Nimmala led the way with three hits, two doubles, and a walk. 

April 22: Game two of the series had a completely different flow than the first one, as the pitching was on display this time. Daniel Guerra continued to impress after being named the Northwest League Pitcher of the Week in the previous week, going five two-hit innings, striking out three, but also walking three. He faced some trouble in the fourth inning, as he walked the bases loaded, but was able to come out of it unscathed. The offense was harder to come by this game, but Arjun Nimmala scored J.R. Freethy on an RBI double to break the tie in the fourth, and Tucker Toman got his 13th RBI of the season on a sac fly in the sixth. Aaron Munson got his first hold of the season, with two scoreless innings, and Kelena Sauer’s return to pitching after missing 2025 has been great. He recorded his first save of the season, striking out four batters over two no-hit innings. 

Single-A Dunedin

• Season Record: 9-8
• Series vs. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins)

April 21: The D-Jays took advantage of some poor defense from the Mighty Mussels, with the Jays stealing four bases and creating havoc on the basepaths, which resulted in rushed plays and four errors from the Mussels. Dariel Ramon got to third after stealing a base and moving up on a throwing error, and after Blaine Bullard walked and stole second, that put Juan Sanchez up at the dish. A fielding error allowed Sanchez to take first while Ramon and Bullard both scored. Troy Guthrie relied on his newfound slider to generate a lot of chases and showed off his advanced command again. He struck out four in four innings and only allowed one run in the bottom of the fourth. Dylan Watts continued the strong pitching for Dunedin, as the high-powered reliever sat 96 mph with his four-seam fastball and struck out four batters in three innings, but allowed a run to tie the game in the sixth. David Beckles came up clutch for the Jays, as after Adrian Pinto doubled, Beckles drove him in for the winning run. Jack Eshleman shut the door in the eighth and ninth for his third save of the year, highlighted by a clutch pickoff to end the game. 

April 22: José Berríos made his second rehab start and dominated Single-A hitters, to the tune of four scoreless innings, with five Ks, only allowing three hits. The veteran righty went up to 55 pitches, and hopefully should soon provide reinforcement to the major league club, which has been struck mightily by the injury bug. The Jays offense couldn’t support Berríos’ start, however, as they struck out thirteen times and struggled to get on base, with only four hits and three walks on the night. Juan Sanchez had his first extra-base hit of the season with a 104.5 mph scorcher to center field, but the Jays could not capitalize. Franly Urena threw two scoreless innings after Berríos was taken out, but Lluveres Severino struggled after walking a batter, committing a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, then walking another batter before hitting a batter to load the bases. Diego Dominguez replaced him and struck out a batter, but allowed two inherited runs to score on a single for the only runs of the ballgame. 

Transactions

04/21/26     C Patrick Winkel assigned to New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
04/21/26     Toronto Blue Jays signed free agent C Patrick Winkel to a minor league contract.
04/20/26     Dunedin Blue Jays placed C Jaxson West on the 7-day injured list.
04/20/26     RHP Aiden Taggart assigned to FCL Blue Jays from Dunedin Blue Jays.

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