On the eve of Spring Training just over a month ago, the Blue Jays opened camp with eight starting pitching options on their depth chart. They are now down to five.

Trey Yesavage was the latest pitcher to slide down the depth chart as the Blue Jays announced yesterday that he would start the season on the injured list with a shoulder injury. That collective noise you heard was the fanbase asking: “What injury?”

This was the first report of any setback for Yesavage after the Blue Jays worked their prized pitching prospect methodically through the minor leagues last year, holding back just enough innings for him to deliver big moments for the team in the postseason.

In 2025, the Blue Jays pulled all the right strings and lined things up perfectly to allow Yesavage to pitch under the bright lights of October. This year, that organizational orchestration has already hit a hiccup.

Something seemed off from the jump when Yesavage wasn’t pencilled to appear in Spring Training games, and instead was throwing simulated games against minor leaguers. The Jays capped the young phenom at 35 pitches, but it was under the guise of building up his arm to work in Spring Training games.

But that never happened, and the Blue Jays seemingly ran out of runway to get Yesavage ready for the season, and will have him on the IL to start the season. At some point, they needed to come clean about his status, because if he wasn’t included on the Opening Day roster, there would be plenty of questions.

However, it’s not as though this injury just occurred; Yesavage told Lindsay Dunn of 6th Inning Stretch and Off the Roster that his shoulder was bothering him before he even arrived at Spring Training, yet we’re only hearing about it now.

Evidently, the Blue Jays thought it might have been a minor issue. Yesavage could have worked out by holding him back through Spring Training and building him up slowly, but that time has nearly run out. Why, then, did the team wait at least a month to disclose that Yesavage was dealing with an injury?

The Blue Jays may have been telling half-truths all along. Back in December at MLB’s Winter Meetings, Blue Jays manager John Schneider told Foul Territory there would be no restrictions on Yesavage this season. Fast forward to Spring Training, and Schneider noted they were going to slowly ramp up Yesavage to lead into the season.

That put Yesavage on target to begin 2026 with abbreviated outings, perhaps being piggybacked with someone like Eric Lauer to cover the innings. If Yesavage was only available for three or four innings per start, Lauer would come in and pick up the slack.

Back on March 1, Yesavage told Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet he was “feeling fresh and ready to start playing again”, so who knows if the shoulder issue crept up between now and then, but looking back, all the warning signs of a stint on the injured list were there; yet most didn’t pick up on it.

Yesavage is not the only Blue Jays starting pitcher to suffer a setback in the last week. Jose Berrios was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his arm, which will send him to the injured list to start the season as well. One wonders how long Berrios has been dealing with this injury; was this the same injury he dealt with last season, or is this something new?

In retrospect, the timing of the Max Scherzer signing — just days after Spring Training camp opened — makes all the sense in the world. With Shane Bieber’s return delayed, and then learning about Yesavage’s shoulder issue, the Jays wasted no time in finding a Plan B on the free agent market by re-signing Mad Max.

Nobody expects a team to always be completely forthright with the public, especially when it comes to player injuries. But the Yesavage situation is a curious case of an undisclosed injury that is now coming to light.

This was likely one of the worst-kept secrets around the Blue Jays’ Spring Training complex, as those down in Dunedin probably had an inkling something was up with Yesavage. From Schneider to go from “no restrictions” on Yesavage to “on a different ramp up” was telling, in hindsight.

Teams typically wait until the eleventh hour to announce a player is going on the injured list, so the Blue Jays’ decision to come public with this during the final days of Spring Training wasn’t surprising. They just may not have gone about it in the most earnest way from the get-go.

This wasn’t as deceitful as former Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi’s infamous quote from 2007: “It’s not a lie if we know the truth,” regarding the status of their then-closer, B.J. Ryan. The Blue Jays later announced Ryan needed Tommy John surgery, even though the club said publicly he was dealing with back issues in Spring Training.

I’m no doctor, but the leap from lower back issues to major elbow surgery has malpractice written all over it. Somebody in the medical department must have severely misread Ryan’s Operation board, or the Jays were trying to downplay the severity of Ryan’s injury.

The Yesavage situation isn’t akin to that level of deception, but from an outsider’s perspective, it was slightly misleading. I suppose being left in the dark and being on a “need to know basis” is how it goes outside the lines.

It’s commonplace, and this won’t be the last time an injury will be reported weeks or even months after the fact, but this instance will give some fans pause the next time a player is slow to return to action.

Off The Roster is Toronto sports. Hosted by Cabbie Richards, Lindsay Dunn, and Dan Riccio, this is the go-to morning conversation for everything happening in the 6ix – Hockey, Baseball, Basketball and everything in between. From breakout performances and questionable trades to throwback jerseys, viral moments, and the stories fans are actually talking about—it’s smart, sharp, and never scripted. Live weekday mornings on the Nation Network YouTube channel and available wherever you stream podcasts, the show delivers real opinions, real chemistry, and real Toronto energy. Missed an episode? Catch up anytime. Off The Roster—The new sound of the 6ix.