The first start of Trey Yesavage’s 2025 season took place in front of a paying crowd of 327 people. Two tickets, according to the Jupiter Hammerheads’ Instagram page, could be purchased for the low, low sum of $15.
And considering how Yesavage pitched that night, it was probably a good thing that so few ball fans rolled through the turnstiles at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Florida. Making his minor-league debut for the Low-A Florida State League Dunedin Blue Jays, the 2024 first-rounder walked six hitters across 3 2/3 disjointed innings, surrendering just one hit alongside two unearned runs.
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Nothing about that inauspicious performance could have foretold how Yesavage’s campaign would unfurl.
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On Sunday, less than six months removed from that humdrum showing against the Hammerheads, Yesavage shined on a slightly bigger stage. With 44,764 souls packed into Toronto’s Rogers Centre, the 22-year-old righty absolutely tyrannized the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.
Facing the sport’s best lineup this regular season in just his fourth big-league start, Yesavage did not allow a single hit across 5 1/3 masterful innings. Leaning on a dastardly split-finger fastball, he punched out 11 and walked just one. He struck out the side in the third and the fourth. The Yankees swung at 31 of his 78 pitches and whiffed 18 times. The Blue Jays’ offense backed up his brilliance by scoring 11 runs before the end of the fourth inning.
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“I was just doing what I feel comfortable doing, throwing splits late in the count, and it just so happens they were swinging and missing at a bunch of them and chasing them down,” Yesavage said postgame. “I didn’t change anything.”
New York knocked around the underbelly of Toronto’s bullpen once the rookie starter hit the showers to make the 13-7 final score look somewhat respectable. But for all intents and purposes, Game 2 was a complete and total domination, one that gave the Jays a commanding 2-0 lead as the series shifts to the Bronx.
The Yankees are the 72nd team in the division series era (since 1994) to lose the first two games in a best-of-five series. Only eight of the previous 71 rattled off three straight victories to swipe the series. New York, in fact, was the most recent club to accomplish the feat, back in 2017 against Cleveland.
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In Game 3 on Tuesday, they’ll have Carlos Rodón, who threw well in wild-card Game 2, on the mound. He’ll go up against 2020 AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber, acquired by the Jays at the trade deadline. New York’s big-swinging offense is certainly capable of authoring a turnaround, particularly with the Bronx home-field advantage at their backs, but the assignment is daunting nonetheless.
The Yankees find themselves in such a predicament, in part, because Game 2 starter Max Fried, sensational in his October pinstripes debut last week against Boston, didn’t have his typical crispness on Sunday. A two-run tank in the second from Toronto third baseman Ernie Clement got the scoring started. The Jays plated three more in the third on a walk and a trio of hits. The fourth brought more trouble for Fried, who allowed the first two hitters to reach before Yankees manager Aaron Boone ended his afternoon.
Two batters later, reliever Will Warren conceded the hammer blow, a spine-tingling grand slam from $500 million man Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that gave Toronto a commanding 9-0 lead and brought an entire country to its feet.
Guerrero, who also went yard in Toronto’s 10-1 Game 1 victory, is now 6-for-9 through the first two games of this set. Daulton Varsho smoked two homers of his own in Game 2, finishing the day 4-for-5 with four RBI and four extra-base hits. George Springer clapped a solo shot as well. Everybody in the Jays’ starting lineup reached base except for Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
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But the day belonged to Yesavage, who walked off the mound to a well-earned standing ovation from the raucous home crowd.
“This has got to be cloud nine,” he said afterward. “I couldn’t imagine a better feeling right now.”
His performance served as a capstone to what was already a remarkable ascension up the minor-league ladder for the East Carolina University product. Yesavage appeared for all four of Toronto’s affiliates on the farm this season. He pitched against Mighty Mussels, Dust Devils, Yard Goats and IronPigs. He resided in three states and two countries, living out of a suitcase while collecting passport stamps and strikeouts.
“I’ve experienced a lot this year,” he said during his media availability Saturday. “This is my fifth team I’ve been with. I’ve met the entire organization. But being here in this spot, I couldn’t have drawn it up any better.”
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Toronto called up the precocious hurler in September for something of an October test run. And Yesavage passed with flying colors, looking completely undaunted by the intensity of big-league ball. Statistically, he performed well in the three starts he made down the stretch, but the Jays were particularly impressed with his demeanor. They believed he could handle the pressure-cooker of postseason baseball.
His showing Sunday proved them right.
Asked how the energy of October compares to the high-stress playoff starts he made as a star pitcher in college, Yesavage offered a compelling, revealing answer.
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“I would say it’s kind of the same. Having to go out there and perform at your best to help your team win a championship. At the end of the day, you have the same goal. It’s to win. Granted, there’s going to be a lot more fans here, and there’s going to be a lot more energy surrounding this place, but I’m built for this.”
Built for this indeed.