Yesavage also earned the first start of the week when the Canadians faced off against the Eugene Emeralds yesterday, and the right-hander experienced the highs and lows of more experienced bats out of the gate.

His high-A career started with a walk against the leadoff batter on four pitches, missing just low and away. He bounced back with two strikeouts, but an outside and away ball to Charlie Szykowny was driven over the wall to give Eugene an early 2-0 lead. Yesavage battled back to get out of the inning, striking out the final batter.

His second inning also started on the wrong foot, allowing a leadoff single with two additional walks to load the bases with zero outs. Unfazed, the Pennsylvania product generated a pop-out and struck out the next two to strand all three runners on the base paths. On top of the impressive escape act, Yesavage got some help from the bats when Arjun Nimmala smacked a three-run homer to give the Canadians the lead in the bottom half of the frame. The third inning started with two more strikeouts and a ground ball to finish the top half. He also came back out for the fourth inning and finished on a high note, striking out the side, all called strikes.

Yesavage’s final line was four innings, two hits, two earned runs, three walks, and 10 strikeouts, with the prospect tossing a 60.3% strike rate in his debut. A bit shaky with his command through the first two frames, Yesavage settled in and continued to mow down opposing bats, retiring his last nine batters. He struck out six out of seven of his final at-bats and generated 19 whiffs on the day, a trend that he has carried with him from his single-A days. He limited opposing Emeralds’ bats to a .143 average, and with his additional ten punchouts, he currently leads all minor league pitchers with his 65 strikeouts to start the 2025 season.

Also making his Canadians debut was Gage Stanifer, who got the call from Dunedin alongside Yesavage. He followed the right-hander and struggled mightily with his command, allowing five walks through 3 2/3 innings. Stanifer allowed just one hit while striking out six, but the walks came back to bite him to the tune of four earned runs. He walked the bases loaded, and a double cleared the bases for a majority of the runs, and finished the outing with the loss.