Blue Jays To Promote Top Prospect Trey Yesavage for MLB Debut

His MiLB numbers are, quite frankly, absurd: across four levels of Minor League Baseball this season, Yesavage has a 3.12 ERA through 98 innings in which he’s struck out 160 batters, walked 41 batters, and surrendered only eight home runs. It was simply a matter of whether Toronto would give him a chance at the end of the season or wait until 2026 spring training to promote Yesavage, but he’s got absolutely nothing left to prove down on the farm.

He boasts an overpowering four-seam fastball that clocks in the mid-90s and a devastating splitter that’s generated plenty of whiffs for the big righty. Lately with Triple-A Buffalo, the organization has been acclimating him to relief outings, with two of his Triple-A appearances coming out of the bullpen. This seemed to hint that Yesavage would serve to bolster Toronto’s back-end of their pitching staff, which, since July 1, is the 24th-most valuable bullpen by fWAR (0.2) this season.

However, he gets an opportunity to pitch in a role he’s more comfortable with as manager John Schneider pinned him as the starting pitcher for Monday’s series opener on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays. The fact that he’s getting an opportunity to start shows the confidence that this organization has in Yesavage and his ability to dominate at every level he’s appeared at thus far.

Perhaps as the season dwindles to a close and the playoffs draw nearer, Yesavage might find some use pitching out of Toronto’s bullpen in important games. For the moment, though, he’s a starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Trey Yesavage Scouting Report

Now that it’s been established that Yesavage is going to get a chance to start games for the Blue Jays down the stretch and not be limited to the bullpen, here’s Aram’s scouting report on what might become Toronto’s future top arm:

Height/Weight: 6’4″, 230 | Bat/Throw: R/R | 1st Round (20), 2024 (TOR) | ETA: 2026

Comfortably the third best college arm in the 2024 class behind only Chase Burns and Hagen Smith, Yesavage slipped to the latter third of the first round due to some health concerns, but early returns have justified the Blue Jays decision to take him at pick No. 20 as Yesavage’s good feel for a quality three pitch mix should help him get to Toronto quickly.

Arsenal

Yesavage releases his three pitch mix from what would be one of the highest points in baseball, roughly 7.1 feet high. Such a towering release point can hedge the perceived ride of a fastball, but Yesavage averages north of 20 inches of induced vertical break in the mid 90s, still making it an above average fastball that can play well at the top. There’s also more deception built in compared to the average over-the-top release, as his shoulders rock backwards with his glove high.

The high release and ability to hide the ball works in the favor of his secondaries, both of which featuring good vertical separation from the fastball. Yesavage took a huge leap with his splitter in his draft year, with the pitch looking like a plus offering in the mid 80s. Averaging nearly 20 inches of total separation, the pitch is difficult to pick up out of the hand, generating high chase rates and a lot of ground balls.

Yesavage’s 86-88 MPH gyro slider was his most trusted secondary through his collegiate career. The vertical action on it makes it effective against hitters of both handedness, though it plays best against righties, where it flashes above average. It was a consistent weapon for him in his junior season picking up a third of his strikeouts with it, while allowing just one extra base hit.

Outlook

The Blue Jays started conservative with a relatively conservative assignment, kicking his pro career off at Low-A where he immediately overwhelmed hitters. It’s more control over command for Yesavage, but his ability to generate both high chase and whiff rates has helped him navigate in starts where he is not around the zone as much. Despite the conservative assignment, Yesavage is a likely candidate to climb quickly with the pitch mix to dream.

Yesavage bears similarities to current Blue Jay Kevin Gausman in terms of his pitch mix, and in his ability to miss bats he might be one of a kind if he can keep up the pace in MLB. This is the first start of many for Trey Yesavage on an MLB field so get used to watching his strikeout strut, you’ll be seeing plenty of it.