It’s natural to be nervous ahead of one’s Major League Baseball debut, no matter the circumstances. But what if you’re doing it in the middle of a pennant race?
Toronto Blue Jays right-handed pitching prospect Trey Yesavage is expected to do exactly that. The team’s first-round pick in last summer’s draft, Yesavage bulldozed his way through four levels of the minors this season, and is expected to start for Toronto against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
The 22-year-old has punched out a ridiculous 160 batters across 98 innings this season, holding opposing batters to a .158 batting average.
TORONTO, CANADA – SEPTEMBER 14: Pitching prospect Trey Yesavage of the Toronto Blue Jays speaks to the media after being called up to the Major Leagues before his team’s MLB game against the Baltimore Orioles…
TORONTO, CANADA – SEPTEMBER 14: Pitching prospect Trey Yesavage of the Toronto Blue Jays speaks to the media after being called up to the Major Leagues before his team’s MLB game against the Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre on September 14, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
More
Blinch/Getty Images
There are only 13 games left on the Blue Jays’ schedule entering Monday, so if he remains in the rotation, Yesavage would get three appearances at most during the regular season before potentially making his playoff debut as well.
Nervous about debuting for a first-place team on the precipice of its first division title in a decade? That’s not Yesavage’s style, it seems.
“There’s not much pressure at all. I’m still playing a children’s game for a living,” Yesavage said, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. “There are five-year-olds who play this game. I think that me, at 22 years old, I can do it just fine.”
Meanwhile the Blue Jays already had a crowded rotation before Yesavage arrived, and manager John Schneider recognizes that putting the youngster in any big spots is going to take away opportunities from veterans.
“Really, this came down to taking the opportunity to add the level of talent that Trey brings,” Schneider said, per Matheson. “That, more than anything, more than the rest for the other starters, was (the reason). We feel like this guy can come in and get outs and help us compete, help us win games at the Major League levels.”
Toronto led the New York Yankees by four games entering play on Monday, with the tiebreaker in hand. The magic number to clinch the American League East sits at nine.
More MLB: MLB Insider Foreshadows Phillies Cutting Ties With $9 Million Flamethrower