Blue Jays Give Top Prospect Yesavage the call

TORONTO – John Schneider consistently emphasizes that performance dictates decisions, and promoting Trey Yesavage to start Monday against the Tampa Bay Rays perfectly illustrates this approach.

It’s unusual to push a 22-year-old, drafted just last summer, to his fifth level in his first professional season, especially considering his status as the Blue Jays’ top pitching prospect. Typically, promising young pitchers are handled with caution.

However, some evaluators believed Yesavage’s fastball/slider/splitter combination was already major league-ready at East Carolina University, and he’s improved since then, racking up 160 strikeouts in 98 innings this year. With the team leading the American League East and aiming for maximum performance,why hinder his progress?

Yesavage earned this opportunity through his performance,and the Blue Jays focused on the reasons to promote him rather than hold him back.

“The scales have been tipping for a while,” said Schneider. “We’re trying to have the best 14 pitchers in our system helping us win games. The way he’s adapted to different roles, and obviously his stuff is impressive, we’re excited to have that on our team.”