TAMPA, Fla. — Prospects, especially top-end ones, can really capture the imagination as they tear through inferior competition en route to the majors. The natural tendency is to assume the performance will translate seamlessly at the highest level, that the gaudy numbers from the minor-leagues will simply transfer up. And until they arrive, well, you just don’t really know, so you can indulge in whatever your mind envisions, because, just maybe, this is truly the one that sticks. 

All of which can make highly anticipated debuts tricky. The Toronto Blue Jays have a mixed history here, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette among their top success stories, particularly in recent years, outliers among a long list of prospects who didn’t reach their peak, with Nate Pearson fronting that list this decade.

So, what Trey Yesavage ultimately achieves will be decided in time, but after a remarkable nine-strikeout debut Monday night during a 2-1, 11-inning win over the Tampa Bay Rays, the dreaming on what the 22-year-old might become will only be amplified. 

“It’s one outing, but what he has shown is he can go through an order multiple times,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “The biggest driving force or factor in our decision was the amount of swing and miss he can generate. So it’s really, really, beneficial for us going forward, however we see fit to use him. As of right now, I like what I saw starting.”

Rightly so, as Yesavage didn’t only come as advertised over five innings of work, he was even better, shaking off a rough start in which Chandler Simpson singled and Yandy Diaz doubled him home to retire 15 of the final 18 batters he faced. Brandon Lowe was his first out, swinging through three splitters, Junior Caminero followed by working an eight-pitch walk, Josh Lowe and Jake Magnum hit grounders to short, allowing the 2024 first-rounder to escape the first, and he rolled from there. 

He struck out a pair in the second, and two more to end the third, which he followed by striking out the side in the fourth, the Rays unable to distinguish between fastballs and splitters barrelling toward the bottom of the zone, while trying to contend with his slider, as well.

Tampa hitters swung through 11 splitters, four fastballs and four sliders within their 36 swings, his whiff rate of 52.8 per cent the highest by any Blue Jays starting pitcher and any pitcher debuting in the majors, minimum 60 pitches, since tracking began in 2009, according to Sportsnet Stats.

All those misses underlined a point Braydon Fisher, whose brilliant work in the 10th and 11th innings locked down the win, made to Yesavage when they were together at triple-A Buffalo: “It was pretty much, ‘If you throw strikes, you are going to be just fine,’” said Fisher. “I was telling him like, ‘Bro, you’re a weirdo, really.’ He throws weird. I throw weird. And I was like, you get the ball in the zone, you’re going to have a good job. And he did a good job.”

And he did it with real stuff, as Yesavage sat 94.6 m.p.h. and topped out at 96.4 with his fastball, complemented by that disappearing splitter, everything so, so good that it demands another start.

Schneider was again non-committal about what’s next for the rookie – “We’ll see,” he said –and the rotation is currently carrying five starters, with Eric Lauer already bounced to the bullpen to accommodate Shane Bieber’s arrival. 

Definitive conclusions should never be drawn from one start, dominant as it may have been, but there’s no debating that Yesavage showed October-calibre stuff that merits more looks to determine how it best fits a post-season roster.

“It was as special as I thought,” Yesavage said of making his debut. “It almost felt like there’s some sort of trance put over me with, like a feeling of peace out there, just enjoying every moment of it.”

The Blue Jays (88-62) have 12 games of runway remaining to sort through that as they continue closing in on a post-season berth and top spot in the American League East, now five games over the New York Yankees (83-67), beaten 7-0 by the Minnesota Twins on Monday.

They erased a 1-0 deficit in the eighth when Ernie Clement led off with a double, was sacrificed to third by a Tyler Heineman bunt and scored on an Andres Gimenez sacrifice fly, positioning them for a 47th comeback win.

Then in the 11th, they went out and got it, as George Springer ripped a two-out, go-ahead RBI single and Fisher, back out for a second inning of work, struck out the side to end it, navigating a difficult first and third with none out.

“He’s come a long way,” said Schneider. “He’s earned everyone’s trust in a hurry. Mine. Pete (Walker, the pitching coach). Rest of the bullpen. Rest of the team. That’s all I can say. When you’re sitting here where we are, you’re going to need contributions like that. He’s been awesome.”

Off the field, the Blue Jays were also awaiting news on Bichette, who visited specialist Dr. Dan Cooper, who is also head physician for the Dallas Cowboys, on Monday for a second opinion on his left knee sprain. Schneider, revealing for the first time that the injury is to Bichette’s posterior cruciate ligament, called the exam “a natural follow-up” that would “help formulate a timeline for him going forward.”

“We’re kind of just doing our due diligence,” said Schneider. “He was feeling probably better than what an MRI showed. So I think getting through this appointment, it’ll have more clarity for him and for us. Hopefully it’s good news and you can say, OK, here’s what we’re going to do.”

For much happier reasons, that’s something they now need to do with Yesavage, too, as he captured the imagination on his way up to the majors and, in a memorable debut at least, lived up to the possibilities.