TORONTO — When you ask around about Trey Yesavage, you tend to hear some of the same words mixed in with all of the excited expletives.
“Bulldog” comes up often. He’s a grown bleeping man, many say. Others will tell you that his fastball comes from the bleeping sky.
Something about Yesavage riles up a feeling in Toronto’s Minor League staff and player development people. He’s the Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect, the big, throwback right-hander who has conquered every single level this season and is set to make his MLB debut Monday night in Tampa, an incredible accomplishment for everyone involved just over five months after Yesavage’s pro debut. With all of these eyeballs and expectations, surely, he must be feeling the weight of the world upon him.
“There’s not much pressure at all. I’m still playing a children’s game for a living,” Yesavage said.
“There are five-year-olds who play this game. I think that me, at 22 years old, I can do it just fine.”
COMPLETE BLUE JAYS PROSPECT COVERAGE
This captures Yesavage so well. There’s an effortless swagger to him, which is all part of the experience. At a certain point in each prospect’s development, their stats and how hard they throw (or hit) a baseball is just part of the equation.
How will a 22-year-old handle struggling for the first time on the biggest stage in the sport? How will their heart rate handle staring down Aaron Judge in the box, not a Triple-A hitter? Can they handle the distractions of the big leagues? Will they keep the outside noise on the outside? All of these things can crack the foundations of even the surest things, but the answers to all of these questions are why the Blue Jays feel so emboldened to push Yesavage. They think he has the heart of a big-leaguer, not just the arm.
“This isn’t an open tryout. This is a very, very deliberate decision that we think he can help us,” John Schneider said. “I don’t want to experiment too much and I don’t want to ruffle any feathers more than we already have. We’ll make the best decision to try to win.”
This isn’t your classic top prospect debut. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette debuted in a lost 2019 season that was always destined to be lost, always going to be the low point of a rebuild that resulted in what we see today. Yesavage is being thrown right into the fire, though, with the Blue Jays chasing their first American League East title in a decade and their first World Series since 1993. There’s no “other” factor here. This isn’t to get the veterans extra rest. It’s about Yesavage — and only Yesavage.
“Really, this came down to taking the opportunity to add the level of talent that Trey brings,” Schneider said. “That, more than anything, more than the rest for the other starters, was [the reason]. We feel like this guy can come in and get outs and help us compete, help us win games at the Major League levels.”
From here, Schneider says that there are no workload limitations on Yesavage, who has thrown 98 innings, just a few innings more than he did in NCAA ball a year ago. There’s enough room for him to start down the stretch, but at the same time, Yesavage has proven recently that he can shorten up into a relief role when needed.
Aaron Sanchez did that back when he debuted in 2014 and it was part of the ‘15 run, as well, but that was tied to workload limits. David Price is the best example in his time with the Rays, debuting out of the bullpen in 2008 and pitching in shorter stints that postseason.
Like Schneider keeps saying, Yesavage can help the Blue Jays win. He’s struck out 160 batters in 98 innings, an obscene number. Yes, he’ll need to keep the ball in the zone and avoid stumbling in his first start at a new level, which has been a theme, but the talent is there for Yesavage to dominate veteran MLB hitters the moment he steps on a mound.
It feels like everything has gone right for the Blue Jays, who hold the best record in the American League with just two weeks left. Yesavage is one more big swing on being a great team, not just a good one, and he just keeps proving that he’s worth it.
