Blue Jays pitching prospects continue strong starts after promotions to High-A
Published
Trey Yesavage and Khal Stephen, the two top picks by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2024 MLB Draft and two of the highest-ranked prospects in the organization, are both enjoying a continued strong start to their minor league careers after promotions to High-A in May.
Yesavage, a righty from East Carolina, was the first pick by Toronto in last year's draft, and is the No. 2 prospects in the organization per MLB Pipeline, and No. 70 prospect across all of baseball.
The 21-year-old was overpowering in Single-A with the Dunedin Blue Jays to start the year - striking out 55 batters in 33.1 innings - and earned an early promotion to the High-A Vancouver Canadians on May 17.
In three games with Vancouver, where he is over two years younger than the average player, Yesavage has a 1.46 earned-run average and 24 strikeouts in 12.1 innings.
As TSN's Scott Mitchell noted in his Top 50 Blue Jays prospects of 2025 list, Yesavage has a chance to move up quickly in the organization after pitching three seasons in NCAA given his polish and the strength of his fastball and splitter.
The early results have been outstanding, causing Yesavage's prospect stock to soar in less than a year.
Stephen, 22, was the second-round pick for the Blue Jays in last year's draft, and though he has been less heralded than Yesavage, the results have been hard to ignore.
Stephen set a new career high on Tuesday with 11 strikeouts against the Tri-City Dust Devils in six innings of one-run ball.
Given his strong start to the year, Stephen has ascended to the No. 9 spot among Blue Jays prospects per MLB Pipeline.
Mitchell predicted a 2028 debut at the pro level for Stephen, meaning his timeline is going to be a bit slower than Yesavage's, but the results have been every bit as encouraging for the second-rounder.
In 11 games (10 starts) across Single-A and High-A so far in 2024, Stephen owns a 2.36 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 53.1 innings.