Trey Yesavage saved his best for last in what has been an all-time rookie season.
The 22-year-old put together arguably the most legendary single game performance in Blue Jays playoff history on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, helping his team move within one win of their first league championship since 1993 with a 6-1 victory in Game 5.
“Crazy world,” Yesavage said after the game. “Hollywood couldn’t have made it this good.”
Yesavage missed Dodgers’ bats all night long, allowing just one run on three hits alongside an incredible 12 strikeouts (a rookie World Series record) over seven innings as the Blue Jays used back-to-back first inning home runs from Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to take a 3-2 World Series lead.
The top four batters in L.A.’s batting order - Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman - went a combined 1-15 in the game, striking out eight times.
“Obviously the stuff is incredible, but the maturity to go and handle these moments is unbelievable,” Bo Bichette said of his teammate. ”I think he’s ultra confident, but you never hear it in the clubhouse, which I think says something about him.”
The start was Yesavage’s last of a historic debut season, one that began in the Florida State League back in April with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays.
Time will tell if Yesavage is needed or available out of the bullpen in Game 6 on Halloween night or a possible Game 7 on Saturday.
Teams tied 2-2 that win Game 5 of World Series go on to win the championship 67.4 per cent (31-15) of the time. Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto will get the ball for Game 6, a player the Jays didn’t want to face in a must-win situation.
“I gave everything I had for this team, for this organization, and they did the same back,” Yesavage said. “I’m so grateful to be in this situation. I gave everything to the fans. I gave everything to Canada and all of the stops I made along the way. I’m so blessed to be in this position.”
Yesavage was the talk of social media during Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Let’s take a look at Yesavage’s season up to this point.
College Star
Last season, when the Blue Jays were struggling in the bottom of the American League East, Yesavage was tearing up collegiate baseball in his final year with the East Carolina Pirates.
Over 15 starts in the 2024 season, Yesavage posted an 11-1 record alongside a 2.03 ERA and 145 strikeouts over 93.1 innings pitched.
Yesavage received All-American honours and was named American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year.
Drafted By Blue Jays
General manager Ross Atkins and the rest of the Jays scouting department must have liked what they saw from the 6-foot-4 right-handed hurler as they used their first-round pick to select Yesavage 20th overall on July 14, 2024.
“We’re really excited to add Trey to the organization,” director of amateur scouting Shane Farrell told MLB.com Keegan Matheson. “He’s a big, physical right-handed starter with three above-average pitches. He’s proven to be durable and held good workloads through his time at East Carolina. His secondary pitches and fastball quality are really strong. We’re thrilled to be able to add him.”
Yesavage was viewed as a talented pitcher with an arsenal that included a mid-90s fastball, curveball, slider and splitter, all thrown from a deceptive high arm angle.
“I have a competitive nature,” Yesavage said. “Put me up against two grizzly bears and I’m not afraid.”
Yesavage signed with the Jays on Aug. 1, 2024.
Spring Debut
Yesavage made his first start as a member of the Blue Jays’ organization on March 15 in a spring training game against the Minnesota Twins.
The native of Pottstown, Pennsylvania allowed no runs and two hits alongside three strikeouts over two innings of work as the Jays thumped the Twins 10-0.
“When I got out there, my heart was beating like crazy,” Yesavage said. “It’s my first professional baseball outing, so I kind of expected it, but I was able to settle myself down in the dugout and focus on what I needed to do.”
At the time, Yesavage was listed as the No. 2 prospect in the Jays’ organization.
“Trey’s just a special dude. He’s got a blue-collar mentality that we love,” Joe Sclafani, the Blue Jays’ director of player development, told Matheson during spring training. “He goes about his business really well.
“We were super excited to get him in the Draft, and he’s done nothing but impress us, not only when he’s throwing bullpens and preparing for this year, but even last year when we shut him down. He has a good way about him. He has a slow heartbeat, but he’s two different guys between the lines and off the field. When he’s between the lines, that competitor comes out.”
Minor League Journey
The vast majority of 21-year-old rookie pitchers start their professional baseball careers in the minors and Yesavage was no exception.
Following spring training, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Max Scherzer and the other members of the Jays headed north to Toronto for the season opener while Yesavage remained in Dunedin to compete in the Florida State League in low Single-A.
Over seven starts with the Dunedin Blue Jays, Yesavage posted a 3-0 record with a 2.43 ERA and 55 strikeouts over 33.1 innings pitched.
In May, Yesavage was moved up to the high Single-A Vancouver Canadians and was even more impressive. Yesavage owned a sparkling 1.56 ERA over four starts, striking out 33 batters in just 17.1 innings.
Next up was the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats where he threw 30 innings over eight appearances (seven starts), producing a 4.50 ERA and 46 strikeouts.
Yesavage also pitched in the All-Star Futures Game in July, striking out the lone batter he faced.
At the time, Atkins indicated a late season call-up to the Majors seemed unlikely, but didn’t rule it out.
“Fifteen years ago, I would have said, ‘Probably not.’ That’s a lot to ask,” Atkins said. “In today’s game, because of how strong the amateur game has become and how much they’ve improved at development, it is more realistic for these guys to transition to the Major Leagues at a very rapid rate. Having said that, that’s not our focus. Our focus is for him to build a foundation and to be a Major League starting pitcher for 10-plus years, which is so hard to do. That will be the backdrop of our focus, but we’re not closing doors to contributions from significant impact players in our system.”
With the surprising Blue Jays still maintaining top spot in the AL East as the summer rolled on, Yesavage was called up to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Aug. 11, an indication a promotion to the Majors in September was on the table.
In Buffalo, Yesavage appeared in six games, including four starts, and produced a 3.63 ERA and 26 strikeouts over 17.1 innings.
The Final Promotion
On Sept. 14 with the Blue Jays looking to fend off the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox for their first division title since 2015, Yesavage was called up to the MLB.
“I was talking to my agents before the season started and they said it was a possibility that this could happen. I didn’t believe it,” Yesavage told Matheson. “Jumping from level to level and this being my fifth team, it’s crazy. It’s just crazy. It’s been a great experience.”
Across four minor league levels, Yesavage owned a 3.12 ERA and 160 strikeouts over 98 innings pitched.
Yesavage made his Major League debut against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sept. 15 at Steinbrenner Field, home of the Yankees’ spring training facility.
After a shaky start, Yesavage allowed just one run on three hits, striking out nine over five innings of work as the Jays picked up the 2-1 victory in 11 innings.
Yesavage’s nine Ks was a franchise record for an MLB debut.
The win, considered one of the best debuts in franchise history, gave the Jays a five game lead in the AL East.
“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 told Matheson. “I enjoyed every moment.”
With the Jays struggling six days later, Yesavage got the ball in Kansas City, allowing five hits and four runs over four innings against the Royals, doing enough to help the Jays win 8-5 and clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2023.
In the penultimate game of the season, Yesavage got his first home start at Rogers Centre as the Blue Jays were tied with the Yankees for the AL East lead.
The Blue Jays held the tiebreaker over the Yankees, meaning winning the last two games of the season would secure the division title.
Yesavage did his part, allowing no hits or runs alongside five strikeouts over five innings against the Rays in the 5-1 win.
Toronto defeated Tampa in the season finale to win the AL East.
‘Built For This"
If baseball fans outside Toronto didn’t know Trey Yesavage’s name earlier this month, they sure did following Game 2 of the American League Division Series.
Ahead of the pivotal playoff matchup against the rival Yankees, Yesavage told reporters, “I’m built for this.”
The rookie proved he wasn’t kidding with one of the greatest playoff performances in Blue Jays’ history.
Aaron Judge and the Yankees looked clueless as Yesavage didn’t allow a hit or run over 5.1 innings, striking out a franchise postseason record 11 batters in the process.
“I was sitting in there thinking about the comment I made the other day where I said ‘I’m built for this.’ I was like, ‘Well, I better back that up.’ I wanted to go out there and do the best I possibly could,” he said.
Eight of his strikeouts were finished off with the splitter, a pitch the Yankees simply could not figure out in the 13-7 rout.
“That was nasty stuff,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “That split is unlike much you ever run into.”
Staving Off Elimination
After a rough outing in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners (five earned runs over four innings in the 10-3 loss), Yesavage was called on in Game 6 to keep the Blue Jays alive and force a do-or-die Game 7 in Toronto.
Yesavage proved he was “built for this” again, allowing six hits and two earned runs with seven strikeouts over 5.2 innings as the Jays used double plays in three consecutive innings to force a Game 7.
“This was the most electric, energized crowd I’ve ever played in front of before,” said Yesavage. “And the team rallied behind the fans. They were a huge motivation for us.”
World Series History
Yesavage, 22, became the youngest pitcher to start Game 1 of the World Series since 21-year-old Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers accomplished the feat in the 1947 Fall Classic.
Facing Shohei Ohtani and the juggernaut Los Angeles Dodgers last Friday at Rogers Centre, Yesavage allowed four hits and two earns over four innings, striking out five.
Yesavage wasn’t at his best, but the offence was as the Blue Jays took Game 1 in an 11-4 rout.
“It was an insane experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Yesavage said. “I wish personally I could have done a little bit better, but that’s why this is a team sport, and we have nine other guys on the field.”