Conversations with the Herd: Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage

By: Brian Frank

Trey Yesavage is headed to The Show. The Blue Jays’ number one rated prospect is being promoted to the major leagues to start for the Blue Jays against the Tampa Bay Rays Monday evening in Tampa.

Yesavage, who’s rated the 25th overall prospect in all of baseball and the third highest right-handed pitching prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, spoke to The Herd Chronicles at Sahlen Field prior to learning of his promotion.

“It doesn’t affect me in any way,” Yesavage said of being such a highly touted prospect. “I’ve said this multiple times—being a number one prospect does not guaranty you’re going to go out there and have success. It’s a great accomplishment. It’s a great feeling. But it doesn’t define who I am as a player. I still have to go out there and show up every single day.”

Yesavage is rated as the Blue Jays' top prospect. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

Yesavage starred at Boyertown Area High School, about an hour’s drive from Philadelphia, before attending East Carolina University, where he played three seasons for the Pirates.

“Just the culture, the coaches, the area, the buzz around the baseball team,” he said of his decision to attend the American Athletic Conference school. “It was an awesome place to go to. It was the best decision I’ve ever made. I love that place.”

It was during his sophomore season, when he posted a 2.61 ERA and struck out 105 batters in 76 innings pitched, when Yesavage realized he had a shot to take his talents to the next level.

“I thought during my sophomore year of college it was definitely feasible,” he said. “Before that I was just worried about getting through the college season. My first time I was ever on a radar gun, I was throwing 86-87 (mph) and after that day I knew I could pursue my college dream, which hopefully would turn into professional—and it did.”

He turned it up another notch during his third and final season of college ball, when he went 11–1 in 15 starts with a 2.03 ERA and a 0.969 WHIP, while fanning 145 batters in 93 1/3 innings pitched.

“Being able to know how to pitch and not just go out there and throw,” he explained of his growth as a pitcher at East Carolina. “Know what to throw in what count. Being able to read guys swings and just trusting myself to the fullest extent.”

Striking fear in a batter. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

One of the biggest games of his collegiate career came against Wake Forest in an elimination game during the 2024 Greenville Regionals of the NCAA Tournament. Facing off against current Cincinnati Reds starter Chase Burns, Yesavage only allowed one run in 7 1/3 scoreless innings in a contest East Carolina ended up winning on a walk-off RBI single by Luke Nowak. Making Yesavage’s clutch performance even more impressive was the fact it was his first start after suffering a significant injury.

“That was my first game back after having a collapsed lung,” he recalled. “Being able to go back out there and play with my best friends—I didn’t think it was going to be the last time, but (it was) the last time, looking back. It was just a special moment to give it my all for my teammates and my coaches at the University. It was a special moment.”

His success at East Carolina led to the Blue Jays selecting him with the 20th overall pick in the 2024 MLB June Amateur Draft.

“I was at home surrounded by a bunch of family and friends,” Yesavage remembered. “I was brought to tears just knowing that this was one of the milestones I was able to check off, and I’d worked so hard for that moment. But I knew there was a lot of hard work to come after it.”

This season, the 22-year-old hurler has rocketed from the lower rungs of the minor leagues all the way to the big leagues. He began the year at Low-A Dunedin, where he made his professional debut. He had a 2.43 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings pitched in seven starts for the D-Jays. In mid-May, he was promoted to High-A Vancouver, where he continued to dominate batters, posting a 1.56 ERA and fanning 33 batters in 17 1/3 innings pitched. Yesavage was then promoted to Double-A New Hampshire in early June, where had a 4.50 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 30 innings pitched, earning him a promotion to Triple-A Buffalo in mid-August. In six games with the Bisons, he had a 3.63 ERA and has 26 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings pitched.

Yesavage has a 0.969 WHIP across four levels this season. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

Earlier this season, Yesavage showcased his talent at the All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta during MLB All-Star week festivities. He only faced one batter in the game—and struck him out.

“It was an awesome experience being able to represent the Blue Jays,” Yesavage said. “Just being there with the best of the best in the minor leagues. It was really cool getting to connect with guys I played with in the past or even played against. But, yeah, I got my one batter. It was against (St. Louis Cardinals prospect) J.J. Wetherholt, a guy I played on Team USA with, a guy I’m friends with—so that was fun. I was able to strike him out and take care of business. I really just got to soak in the whole experience, pitching early in the game. It was a great time.”

The 6’4” hurler uses a three-pitch mix to flummox batters—and he’s developing a fourth pitch, which is currently a work in progress.

“I have a four-seam fastball,” he said. “I throw that in any count. I have really good command with it. It’s got a lot of ride on it, so a lot of guys get underneath it and pop the ball up. I’ve got my slider, which is kind of just like a gyro, tumbling pitch. I throw it mostly to righties. Then I’ve got my splitter which I throw to both sides. I’d say it’s my best pitch. I get a lot of whiffs on it. It falls off the table right before the plate. I have a curveball that I don’t really throw too much. I haven’t thrown it yet here—that’s kind of a work in progress.”

Yesavage seemed to get better every time out with the Bisons. His final start with the Herd may have been his best Triple-A outing. He threw three perfect innings, striking out four, in a 9–2 Bisons win at Rochester, firing 34 pitches, 28 of which were strikes.

“Getting used to the balls was a little bit of a learning curve,” he said of the initial adjustment to Triple-A, which uses major league baseballs, unlike lower minor league levels. “After that first outing I realized that guys here take better pitches than they do everywhere else. So, I’ve just got to get in the zone more.”

Headed to The Show. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

This season, he’s made 25 appearances across four levels, including 22 starts—recently making three relief appearances, including a pair of bullpen outings with Buffalo.

“I’m definitely comfortable with it,” he said of pitching in relief. “My freshman year of college I had 34 appearances out of the pen. I’ve done it before, I’ve been there, so it’s kind of like second nature.”

His dominance this season is perhaps best illustrated in the number of strikeouts he’s racked up. He has 160 strikeouts in 98 innings pitched across four levels—fanning 14.7 batters per nine innings, which leads all of minor league baseball.

“I would love to strike everyone out if I could,” he said. “I don’t really have a pitch in my arsenal to induce early weak contact, so I’m just trying to get it to two strikes as fast as possible and make the hitters get themselves out or blow a pitch by them.”

No matter the level, Yesavage has shown he’s up to the challenge. He’s already exceeded his own expectations for the season—and now he’s moving up to the big leagues.

“My goal was to go into the season to just get an understanding of what professional baseball is and what the season looks like,” he said. “Now that I’ve bounced around to four different teams and four different sets of teammates, four different sets of coaches, I found it really important to just continue to be the person I am and continue to have the same work ethic no matter where I am or who I’m surrounded by. I feel like I’ve done a spectacular job of that and just being able to handle my own business day to day.”

Now, he's on to his fifth team this season—the Toronto Blue Jays—and the sky appears to be the limit for the highly prized prospect.