August is a month that annually sees newly drafted players join affiliated teams, but don&#8217;t expect to see top Blue Jays draft picks Trey Yesavage and Khal Stephen pitching in Vancouver, New Hampshire, or Buffalo any time soon.

<a href="https://x.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1819741460163407888">According to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com</a>, the Blue Jays don&#8217;t expect either pitcher to log many more innings this summer given the workload they had pitching for their college teams. Shane Farrell, the team&#8217;s director of amateur scouting, said: &#8220;Given the amount they threw, I wouldn’t expect them to rush to an affiliate and pitch much this season, if at all.&#8221;
Pitching for East Carolina, Yesavage posted a 2.03 ERA in 15 starts in 2024. He logged 93 1/3 innings and struck out 145 batters. Stephen pitched for Mississippi State and put up a 3.28 ERA over 16 starts. He went 96 innings and struck out 107 batters. Both 21 years of age, Yesavage and Stephen will work at the team&#8217;s pitching lab in Dunedin over the next couple of months and could be put on track to quickly move through the system next year.
Yesavage came into the draft ranked as the 11th-best prospect by <a href="https://www.mlb.com/prospects/draft/trey-yesavage-702056" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MLB.com</a> and <a href="https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/2024-top-mlb-draft-prospects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Baseball America</a>, 13th by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5622935/2024/07/09/mlb-draft-2024-top-100-prospects-final/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic,</a> 14th by <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/40520082/2024-mlb-draft-rankings-30-top-250-prospects-final-condon-bazzana-caglianone" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN</a>, and 19th by <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2024-mlb-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FanGraphs</a>, but fell to the Blue Jays at 20th overall. He signed with the Blue Jays for a $4,177,500 bonus, which was slightly higher than the assigned value of the pick ($4,073,400).
<blockquote>“He&#8217;s a big, physical right-handed starter with three above-average pitches,” <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-sign-first-round-pick-trey-yesavage-above-slot-value/">Farrell said</a> back in July after the Blue Jays selected Yesavage. “He&#8217;s proven to be durable and held good workloads through his time at East Carolina. He&#8217;s shown that his secondary pitches and fastball quality are really strong. We&#8217;re thrilled to be able to be able to add him.”</blockquote>
The savings the Blue Jays got elsewhere in their bonus pool to go over-slot with Yesavage came from what they gave Stephen, their second pick at 59th overall. Stephen was ranked in the 75-100 range by the aforementioned lists and signed for a bonus of $1,116,750, which was $372,250 under the pick&#8217;s assigned value.

August is a month that annually sees newly drafted players join affiliated teams, but don't expect to see top Blue Jays draft picks Trey Yesavage and Khal Stephen pitching in Vancouver, New Hampshire, or Buffalo any time soon.



<a href="https://x.com/KeeganMatheson/status/1819741460163407888">According to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com</a>, the Blue Jays don't expect either pitcher to log many more innings this summer given the workload they had pitching for their college teams. Shane Farrell, the team's director of amateur scouting, said: "Given the amount they threw, I wouldn’t expect them to rush to an affiliate and pitch much this season, if at all."

Pitching for East Carolina, Yesavage posted a 2.03 ERA in 15 starts in 2024. He logged 93 1/3 innings and struck out 145 batters. Stephen pitched for Mississippi State and put up a 3.28 ERA over 16 starts. He went 96 innings and struck out 107 batters. Both 21 years of age, Yesavage and Stephen will work at the team's pitching lab in Dunedin over the next couple of months and could be put on track to quickly move through the system next year.

Yesavage came into the draft ranked as the 11th-best prospect by <a href="https://www.mlb.com/prospects/draft/trey-yesavage-702056" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MLB.com</a> and <a href="https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/2024-top-mlb-draft-prospects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Baseball America</a>, 13th by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5622935/2024/07/09/mlb-draft-2024-top-100-prospects-final/?source=emp_shared_article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic,</a> 14th by <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/40520082/2024-mlb-draft-rankings-30-top-250-prospects-final-condon-bazzana-caglianone" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ESPN</a>, and 19th by <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/prospects/the-board/2024-mlb-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FanGraphs</a>, but fell to the Blue Jays at 20th overall. He signed with the Blue Jays for a $4,177,500 bonus, which was slightly higher than the assigned value of the pick ($4,073,400).
<blockquote>“He's a big, physical right-handed starter with three above-average pitches,” <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-sign-first-round-pick-trey-yesavage-above-slot-value/">Farrell said</a> back in July after the Blue Jays selected Yesavage. “He's proven to be durable and held good workloads through his time at East Carolina. He's shown that his secondary pitches and fastball quality are really strong. We're thrilled to be able to be able to add him.”</blockquote>
The savings the Blue Jays got elsewhere in their bonus pool to go over-slot with Yesavage came from what they gave Stephen, their second pick at 59th overall. Stephen was ranked in the 75-100 range by the aforementioned lists and signed for a bonus of $1,116,750, which was $372,250 under the pick's assigned value.

Recent articles from Cam Lewis

Breaking News