Toronto Blue Jays rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage became a sudden star over the last few weeks, but it hasn’t all been positive.
Yesavage, who set a Blue Jays playoff record for most strikeouts by a pitcher in a game in his debut last weekend against the New York Yankees, mentioned that members of his family had been targeted in recent days.
“Living in this world where there’s so many different opinions and feelings which result in a lot of hate, it’s sad to see that people close to me are being attacked for my performance on the field. These people have done nothing to warrant negativity from my actions. Whether that’s my parents, my brothers, my girlfriend, family— it’s just really sad,” Yesavage told the media on Sunday.
Yesavage is expected to be Toronto’s Game 2 pitcher in their ALCS matchup against the Seattle Mariners on Monday.
“I know I have the platform to address it. So, I am. And I hope that people can realize that those individuals have nothing to do with what happens on the field. And if you have a problem, I’m a man —I can take whatever opinions anybody has about me and my life. So, I just wanted to get that out there,” Yesavage added.
Yesavage declined to answer follow-up questions on the matter, instead focusing on the series ahead, but implied that the nature of the attacks were online.
Toronto manager John Schneider also touched on the situation.
”I give him a ton of credit for a guy that is 22 and just arrived in the big leagues and understands that he has a platform,” Schneider said. “So I commend him for saying what he said, and for backing up the people that that love and support him.”
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