Blue Jays rookie sensation Trey Yesavage prepares for first full season in the majors

Trey Yesavage’s 2025 was such a whirlwind, moving through all five levels of the Toronto Blue Jays organization in a single season and playing a significant role in its run to the World Series, that he needed to process it all once it was over.

“It took a few days to just go through the entire season as a whole and just reflect, just realize how blessed I am,” said Yesavage at the Blue Jays Player Development Complex in Dunedin, Fla. “Just talking with myself, just being in silence and seeing where my brain’s at.”

The 22-year-old Yesavage started his season with the single-A Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida Complex League and moved his way through every level of Toronto’s full-season minor-league system, arriving in the big leagues as a September call-up.

Yesavage had a 1-0 record over three starts, with a 3.21 earned-run average over 14 innings, striking out 16. He was just as sharp in the post-season, with a 3-1 record, a 3.58 ERA and 39 strikeouts over 27 2/3 innings in the American League Division Series, Championship Series, and World Series.

“I think just handling the moment at every level I went to, not changing myself and just being myself,” said Yesavage, who will still be eligible for the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 2026.

The six-foot-four right-hander finished 2025 as Toronto’s top-ranked prospect but will undoubtedly be on the MLB team’s opening day roster, joining veterans Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce in the rotation.

“It’s funny, this is his first major league camp, he wasn’t even here last year,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “I think for what he did on the biggest stage of the sport, it’s really almost unprecedented. 

“So we’re expecting him to get his bearings a little bit with first major league spring training and going into a major league season.”

That comes with some new demands, including a longer season and more innings pitched after Yesavage’s season-long pitch count was carefully managed at each stop in 2025. Schneider said his advice to Yesavage to open camp was simple.

“Not trying to strike everybody out in spring training, make sure you’re ready for a long season,” said Schneider, noting that those conversations happen every day. “But innings limit, we don’t really have one.

“I think if there’s areas during the schedule where you can take care of guys, whether it’s him or (Gausman) or (Ponce) or whoever, we’ll try to do that.”

One thing that Schneider was sure of was that Tyler Rogers, who signed a three-year, US$37 million contract with Toronto on Dec. 15, will almost always follow Yesavage to the mound. 

The reason is simple: Yesavage’s got the highest release point in baseball and Rogers — who throws with a sidearm — has the lowest. Indeed, the Trajekt Arc, the widely used pitching simulator that replicates the throwing motion of specific players, cannot duplicate either Yesavage or Rogers’s distinct deliveries. 

“I’m excited to see how the hitters react, because I’m sure they have never experienced anything like that,” said Yesavage.

Rogers was less sanguine, having been in a similar position last season when he often relived surefire Hall of Famer Justin Verlander for the San Francisco Giants. Verlander had the highest arm slot in MLB until Yesavage made his debut last September.

“I really don’t think it’s much of a thing, no,” said Rogers. “I mean, it’s the same thing as having a righty you bring in a lefty, just a different look.”

Catcher Alejandro Kirk, who at least knows what pitch will be coming, said that for him it will be a matter of preparation backstopping the two very different pitchers.

“I’ve just got to do my homework very well,” said Kirk through translator Hector Lebron. “It’s rare to see that in the game, two very different angles, but I’ve just got to be focused on that and do my homework like they do their homework, and we’re going to be fine.”

There’s another wrinkle that Yesavage might be adding to his pitch repertoire.

He had three pitches in his arsenal in 2025, using a four-seam fastball 42.5 per cent of the time, a slider 28.5 per cent and a splitter — his go-to out pitch — 26.4 per cent of the time.

Yesavage told reporters that he tried adding a curveball in the off-season and would continue to experiment with it through spring training.

“It’s not where I want it to be, so we’ll see about that,” said Yesavage, noting that the over-the-top delivery that makes his splitter so effective makes a curveball very difficult to execute without tipping the pitch to the hitter.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2026.