TORONTO — Six months ago, Trey Yesavage made his professional debut in Single-A, where sparse crowds scatter themselves through the stadiums recently abandoned by the buzz of Spring Training.
Saturday morning in Toronto, the 22-year-old climbed the steps of the Blue Jays†press conference room, then looked out to see a crowd that could rival his Dunedin debut. A stunning season of development — and five teams — have led him here.
Yesavage is the Blue Jays†Game 2 starter in the ALDS, manager John Schneider announced. The 22-year-old who has shot through the organization like a rocket ship isnâ€t just here to tag along. Heâ€s here to beat the damn Yankees.
“I canâ€t really repeat what he said,†Schneider said, laughing to himself. “But he was very excited.â€
Thereâ€s an edge to Yesavage, one that hides behind the well-mannered rookie who gets right to the point in his interviews, short and sweet. Heâ€s incredibly confident, but manages to remain subtle about it. Perhaps itâ€s because of how matter-of-fact he is about things.
Baseball is complicated. Players coming up today are already drastically different than those from a decade ago, given how much player development has changed — and in some ways accelerated — but there still comes a point where a player is thrown into the deep end. Sink-or-swim time comes for everyone, and the more you complicate an already complicated game, the less likely you are to stay above water.
Yesavage makes this all sound so simple. When he was promoted, the final step after playing for all four Minor League affiliates in 2025, he deadpanned that there are 5-year-olds who play baseball. Heâ€s 22. Heâ€d be just fine.
Sitting there Saturday, all of the cameras and another room of unfamiliar faces looking at him, Yesavage didnâ€t blink.
“Iâ€m built for this,†Yesavage said.
With Yesavage pitching Game 2 at home, Schneider said that part of the strategy is to keep the rookie away from Yankee Stadium, which can quickly become a “hostile†environment. Yesavage is surely built for The Bronx, too, but even the fastest-rising prospect in baseball needs to pace himself.
“I’ve experienced a lot this year. This is my fifth team I’ve been with. I’ve met the entire organization,†Yesavage said. “But being here in this spot, I couldn’t have drawn it up any better.â€
By pitching Game 2, Yesavage could also come back around in a bullpen role for a potential Game 5, if the Blue Jays need, but thatâ€s a conversation for down the road. The Blue Jays already enter the ALDS with the advantage of setting their rotation fresh with the Yankees coming from the Wild Card Series and have to feel confident with Shane Bieber, the former Cy Young Award winner, leading them into New York for Game 3.
The coming days will tell the real story, but the plans have been laid exactly as the Blue Jays wanted them. This has all been allowed by the progress of Yesavage, who has already flashed dominance and earned the respect of teammates for his demeanor just as much as his big fastball and baffling splitter.
“He seems unfazed by a lot of things,†said George Springer, who knows October as well as anyone on this roster. “I think he’s outwardly calm, and I think that perception for him, it does a lot for us. You would expect somebody to appear nervous, but he doesn’t. And I think that just shows who he is as a player, who he is as a human being.â€
Yesavage is a long way from where he started. Heâ€s a long way from facing the Jupiter Hammerheads, Lakeland Flying Tigers and the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.
Heâ€s finally where he belongs, not at one of the many stops along the way, living out of suitcases in another hotel with an uncertain check-out date. The Blue Jays just keep betting on him, though, and they havenâ€t been wrong yet.
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