TORONTO — Nothing about Trey Yesavage’s debut professional season has been “normal.”
The Toronto Blue Jays’ 2024 first-round pick started the year in low-A Dunedin, pitching against teenagers — seemingly years away from the big leagues, let alone post-season stardom.
But a carefully planned summer, in which Yesavage checked every box the organization set out for him, has the six-foot-four rookie set to take the ball in the Blue Jays’ most important game of the season.
And he just wants it to feel like any other start.
“I’m attempting for it to be more normal, but every game has been a lot on the line with it, so just trying to make it as normal as possible,” Yesavage said at Saturday’s workout from Rogers Centre.
“You really need to treat it as if it was a regular-season game mentally,” he added. “You can’t make it bigger than what you are used to and what it is.”
It’s been a strategy that has worked out pretty well for Yesavage thus far.
After climbing the minor-league ladder by excelling at each of Toronto’s four full-season affiliates, Yesavage got the call to make his MLB debut on Sept. 15. The 22-year-old didn’t just join the Blue Jays for a late-season cameo as they inched towards October, though. He staked his claim to a spot in the rotation by stepping up for the team in big spots.
Although he pitched in just three regular-season games for Toronto, the moment seemed to grow larger each time he took the mound. In his second MLB start, the Blue Jays clinched a post-season spot, and in his third, Yesavage earned his first win as Toronto kept the New York Yankees at bay before clinching its first AL East title in a decade.
It’s a trend that has continued into the playoffs. Yesavage has already felt the highs and lows of fall baseball in this Blue Jays run. From rushing back onto the field for a curtain call after no-hitting the Yankees through 5.1 innings in the ALDS to falling behind 3-0 to the Seattle Mariners after the first three hitters of the game, he’s gotten far more than a rookie’s experience in the last two weeks alone.
But it’s all part of why Toronto is confident turning to him with its season on the line in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday back at home (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 8:03 p.m. ET / 5:03 p.m. PT).
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Watch the Blue Jays in the ALCS on Sportsnet
The Toronto Blue Jays will face the Seattle Mariners in Game 6 of the ALCS on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Catch the game on Sportsnet or Sportsnet+.
“I think just what he’s done this whole year, not just here with us in the big leagues, but over the course of his season,” manager John Schneider said Saturday about the Blue Jays’ belief in Yesavage. “He’s pitched in a lot of big games. He’s pitched in big regular-season games, he’s pitched in big post-season games, and he’s handled himself well.”
Sunday’s pivotal contest will offer a new challenge for Yesavage, however, as he’ll look to bounce back against a lineup that’s already found success against him — a first in his MLB career.
Yesavage was charged with four hits, five runs and three walks in Game 2 of the ALCS against the Mariners. Two of those runs scored after he exited, when Jorge Polanco greeted Louis Varland to the game with a three-run shot.
So, as Yesavage took in the Blue Jays’ three games in Seattle from the dugout, he was learning from what his fellow starters were doing to find success and concocting a game plan for his return to the mound in the series.
“I think there’s definitely going to be an adjustment. What that is, I’ll keep with us,” Schneider said. “That’s the cat-and-mouse game of a seven-game series when you’re facing a starter a couple times.”
The last time Yesavage pitched in a true elimination game came just over 16 months ago, when he took the mound for East Carolina University in a regional game against Wake Forest with their season — and his college career — on the line.
To add to the drama of the game, it was Yesavage’s first game back from suffering a partially collapsed lung, and he was matched up with fellow top draft prospect Chase Burns.
Thanks to his ability to stay in the moment and poise beyond his years, Yesavage outduelled the future second-overall pick and dominated over 112 pitches and 7.1 innings. He allowed just one hit and one run while striking out six in what ended as a 7-6 ECU victory.
While the stage will be slightly bigger on Sunday, Schneider expects the 2024 20th-overall pick to be the same pitcher he’s been all along — dating back to before he pulled on a Blue Jays cap for the first time.
“I don’t want to put all of the pressure on Trey. He’s the starting pitcher. We’re going to have nine guys in the lineup that got to do their job and guys that got to do their job on defence, too,” the manager said.
“We got all the confidence in the world that (Yesavage) will have the right mindset. He’s got to go out and do what he does.”
Even though Yesavage will be searching for his “normal” as he takes the mound in front of what is sure to be a rocking crowd in Toronto, he isn’t taking anything for granted just because he’s in his first season.
“This opportunity does not come up very often,” he said. “I was talking to (Kevin) Gausman the other day, and I said, ‘What’s the furthest you’ve made it in the playoffs?’ And he said, ‘This is the furthest I’ve done.’ And he’s been playing this game for a long time.
“So I’m very blessed to be in this situation, and I not only want to win and keep playing for myself, but for the guys that have not seen this part of baseball before.”
