Arguably, no player in professional baseball had a more eventful 2025 season than the Toronto Blue Jays’ pitcher Trey Yesavage. Yesavage started his pro career with the Dunedin Blue Jays in Single-A. By the end of the season, he was pitching in the World Series.

To say Yesavage was one of the key reasons for the Blue Jays’ postseason success in 2025 would be an understatement. He was record-breakingly good.

In his first start of the playoffs, and just his fourth ever in the majors, he threw 5 1/3 hitless innings against the New York Yankees, including 11 strikeouts in Game 2 of the ALDS. He set a franchise record for strikeouts in a postseason game. In Game 5 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he broke his own record when he struck out 12 through seven innings. The Blue Jays would win that game 6-1 to take a 3-2 series lead.

After his whirlwind season, the expectations are sky-high for Yesavage in 2026. With just three regular-season starts in MLB last season, Yesavage will still be considered a rookie. Even though the season is yet to start, he’s already considered a favourite for the AL Rookie of the Year award. If he were to win, he would earn the Blue Jays an extra draft pick after the first round for the 2027 draft.

The Blue Jays have already made it clear that they will take a cautious approach with Yesavage to start the season. He is yet to make his spring training debut, and manager John Schneider has already crossed off the possibility of Yesavage taking on the usual workload of MLB starting pitchers. This approach makes sense, despite Yesavage’s success in 2025. His innings pitched jumped from 93 1/3 in 2024 at East Carolina to 139 2/3 in 2025 with the Jays and in the farm system. On top of that, he’s had a far shorter off-season than he’d be accustomed to, with the World Series ending on November 1st.

With a prospect as talented as Yesavage, managing his workload early on is necessary for him to maintain his performance throughout his career.

The Blue Jays have the luxury of being able to manage Yesavage’s workload due to the number of arms they have available. The Blue Jays have a long list of pitchers vying for a spot in the starting rotation, including Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Jose Berrios, and Cody Ponce. They also have Shane Bieber, though he will have a late start to the season due to forearm fatigue. Max Scherzer recently re-signed with the team on a one-year deal, and Eric Lauer has made it clear he wants to be a starter. With that many potential starters, the Blue Jays have wiggle room if they need to give Yesavage extra recovery time or an abbreviated start to the campaign.

It will also be interesting to see how teams adjust to Yesavage as he gains more experience in the majors. He’s known for his exceptionally high release angle. His unique approach is part of what made him so important for the Blue Jays in their postseason run.

Yesavage had the element of surprise, particularly against the Yankees, because the batters weren’t accustomed to his technique. With a full year in the majors, the Blue Jays’ opponents will get a better look at Yesavage and will try to adapt when they face him. Although he did perform better against the Dodgers in Game 5 than in Game 1 of the World Series. Still, as the season progresses, teams will try to learn how to adjust their approach against Yesavage.

One thing that will help Yesavage is that, at least for now, the Trajekt pitching machines can’t match his release point.

This will hinder teams’ ability to prepare to face him. Adding to this advantage for the Blue Jays is their new relief pitcher, Tyler Rogers, whose submarine delivery is also not replicated by the Trajekt. Yesavage has the highest release point in the majors, while Rogers has the lowest. The Blue Jays can use this to their advantage by bringing out Rogers in relief of Yesavage to throw off batters with their vastly different techniques.

The expectations are high for Yesavage after his incredible 2025. He proved himself under unbelievable pressure during the postseason despite his lack of experience.

However, he is still very young at 22 years old. While nothing else in professional baseball could compare to the pressure he faced in the postseason, there is usually an adaptation period for young players starting in the majors.

Yesavage has certainly proven himself worthy of all the hype he’s received and cemented himself as a key piece in the Blue Jays’ rotation for the coming years. But it’s important for Toronto to give him time to grow and adjust during his first full season in MLB.

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