Trey Yesavage strikes out nine batters in MLB debut with Blue Jays

TAMPA — Trey Yesavage‘s splitter has descended from heaven to put hitters through hell.

With one of the most dominant pitching debuts in Blue Jays history, Yesavage didn’t just nail the first impression, he gave a country of baseball fans permission to dream. The 22-year-old right-hander struck out nine Rays batters, a franchise record for an MLB debut. For five innings, you didn’t want to blink.

“It was as special as I thought. It was almost like there was some sort of trance put over me with a feeling of peace out there,” Yesavage said. “I enjoyed every moment.”

There’s so much momentum rolling out of just one night, the Blue Jays’ 2-1, 11-inning win paired with a Yankees loss moving Toronto five games up in the division. With the tiebreaker in their back pocket, too, the division is sitting right in front of the Blue Jays, but all anyone could talk about after the extra-innings win was the remarkable rookie.

“That’s a boost. It’s a boost,” manager John Schneider said. “I don’t want to say it’s a ‘risky’ thing bringing him up because we talked about it a lot. We thought he could help us win, which he did tonight. With that being a little unorthodox at this time of year, a young kid making his debut and where we’re at in the season and the standings, it’s good for everyone else here to see what he can do.”

Being dropped into the middle of an AL East chase as Toronto’s No. 1 prospect who’s touched every level of the Minor Leagues this season — and dominated each one — Yesavage’s debut is the biggest since Vladimir Guerrero Jr. walked into Rogers Centre in 2019.

When Guerrero debuted, though, the World Series was a dream in the distance. Yesavage just joined the best team in the American League in the middle of September and gave the Blue Jays one of their most impressive pitching performances of the year. With talent like this, Yesavage could be more than just the kid riding shotgun. He could be another piece that helps take the Blue Jays over the top.

Immediately, we saw what hitters through the Minor Leagues have been baffled by all summer long. From Single-A to High-A, Double-A and Triple-A, Yesavage has made opponents look foolish, striking out a whopping 160 over 98 innings. Yesavage’s slider is a legitimate MLB weapon already, but when his fastball and splitter were dancing together, it’s a wonder how hitters have touched them at all.

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“That’s an awesome feeling. It’s rewarding to see silly swings at pitches,” Yesavage said.

Yesavage has one of the highest release points in pro ball at any level, going straight up over the top of his tall frame. Coaches will often say it comes “from the sky.” This means that everything is already plummeting downhill on the hitters, who are left — often hopelessly — to decide whether it’s going to be a 95 mph fastball or tumble down and out of the zone as a splitter. Over and over, the Rays’ hitters chose wrong. Yesavage got 11 whiffs on 14 swings against his splitter, a stunning number.

This was just the 10th time in 2025 that an MLB starter got at least 11 whiffs on a splitter. And yes, five of those were Kevin Gausman. The 19 total whiffs also tied Yesavage for the fifth-most by a debuting pitcher in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008), and he did this on just 69 pitches.

“We knew coming in he’s picked up a ton of strikeouts this season coming up through the Minor Leagues,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “He did a heck of a job. I mean, tip your cap to him. To be down 1-0 after two batters and then settle in and pitch the way he did. It was a really strong performance by him.”

Braydon Fisher, who turned in the performance of his young career with two scoreless innings in extras, had seen Yesavage in Triple-A before. He knew this was coming. Fisher, just like Yesavage, earned a spot in front of the postgame cameras for the very first time.

“I was telling him [in Triple-A], ‘Bro, you’re a weirdo,’” Fisher said. “Really. He throws weird. I throw weird. If he gets the ball in the one, he’s going to do a good job … and he did a good job.”

This is just the beginning for Yesavage. Not all days will look like this one, given all of the adjustments and challenges of life in the big leagues that lie ahead, but we just got a glimpse of what he’s capable of. It’s incredible, and as the Blue Jays chase their first World Series since 1993, it’s just another reason to believe.