DUNEDIN, Fla. — Trey Yesavage was nervous when he stepped on the mound at TD Ballpark on Saturday afternoon.
“My heart was beating like crazy,” Yesavage said afterward.
Now, that’s to be expected since this was the first time the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander was taking the ball in a game as a professional player.
Yesavage had trouble finding the strike zone and put runners on first and second to open his outing, yet bore down and escaped the jam by inducing a fly out to left field followed by a ground out to shortstop.
When he returned to the dugout, the 21-year-old didn’t tell anybody about his nerves. There was no point.
“I just knew what I needed to do,” said Yesavage.
He composed himself in between innings and that certainly shone through when the right-hander struck out the side in the next frame. It was electric stuff and, as a result, Yesavage generated some nice buzz in the Blue Jays’ 10-0 rout over the Minnesota Twins during their MLB Spring Breakout contest, which featured a bevy of premier prospects from both organizations.
Alan Roden, who’s pushing for a spot with the major-league club, led the way for the Blue Jays with a two-run, opposite-field double off the left field wall, while Arjun Nimmala recorded an RBI single as one of his two hits.
Blue Jays right-hander Jake Bloss tossed two dominant innings and then gave way to Yesavage, who pitched the third and fourth innings, allowing just two hits while striking out three. His fastball was particularly impressive, topping out at 97 m.p.h. and sitting at 95.5 m.p.h.
The Blue Jays drafted Yesavage 20th overall out of East Carolina University last year, and he didn’t pitch in 2024 after he signed with the club. That created a long build-up leading into Saturday’s game, in which Yesavage’s parents and family friends were in the crowd.
“It’s definitely been long, slow, methodical,” said Yesavage. “Every detail has been accounted for, but it’s finally amazing to be out there pitching in a Blue Jays uniform.”
Throughout his first spring training, Yesavage says he’s been learning the ropes of pro ball and trying to establish routines. He’s meeting new faces and was even stopped in the hallway the other day by a fellow East Carolina Pirates alumnus — Blue Jays reliever Jeff Hoffman.
“Which is really cool,” says Yesavage. “He’s a great guy. Said he enjoyed watching me last year and [he’s] someone I can definitely look up to.”
Yesavage is quite advanced as a pitcher, having played three seasons in the NCAA, where he posted a 2.58 ERA over 195.1 innings with 295 strikeouts against 74 walks. Such experience could set the right-hander on a fast track to the majors, not unlike the path Alek Manoah travelled to Toronto a few years ago.
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However, Yesavage says he refuses to allow prospect boards or prognosticators to influence his thinking.
“I’m not feeding into what I call ‘The rat poison,'” he says. “Being true to myself, taking care of my own business, and good things will come.”
Yesavage worked in his four-pitch repertoire on Saturday and left teammates impressed.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen him pitch and I liked it,” Nimmala said. “Splitter’s dirty. He threw a slider at 90 [m.p.h.] today and he was throwing very hard.”
Nimmala, the Blue Jays’ first-round pick in 2023, has impressed onlookers in his own right since the start of camp. He’s played alongside major leaguers in a few Grapefruit League games — even hitting a home run last week — and continued to look like he belongs on Saturday.
The toolsy shortstop drove a 107.4-m.p.h. single up the middle in the first inning then added an RBI single in the fourth frame. The latter was a nice piece of hitting as Nimmala pulled his hands toward his body to get the barrel of the bat on an inside sinker and subsequently drove it through the five-six hole with a 100.4-m.p.h. exit velocity.
Asked about his confidence level, Nimmala offered a strong response.
“I think it’s super-high,” he said. “I’ve always been a very confident player, even when struggles hit, but always keeping that confidence up is something that I’ve tried to work on.
The shortstop added that he and Yesavage have actually been lockermates this spring, and who knows, maybe one day that will be the case in the home clubhouse at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays will certainly dream on the duo impacting the major-league team together, just like they did on Saturday.
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