The reinforcements cannot come soon enough.

The Toronto Blue Jays are optimistic that Trey Yesavage is set to pitch in a rehab game in Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday night, with the hopes the organization could activate him off the 15-day injured list prior to next week’s series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Yesavage last pitched in the majors back on August 4 against the Houston Astros, before abruptly being taken out of the game due to discomfort in his left knee. The injury later turned out to a torn meniscus, for which he had surgery for back on September 4. Sunday saw Yesavage throw a 30-pitch bullpen at Rogers Centre ahead of Sundays game against Baltimore, and the plan is for him to pitch on Tuesday night for the Buffalo Bisons against the Rochester Red Wings. The plan per Blue Jays manager John Schneider, is that Yesavage gets up to 40 to 50 pitches on the outing, before the team decides if and when he is to return to the big leagues.

With 12 games to go in the season and the Blue Jays just a single game back of the Cleveland Guardians, the team needs every form of assistance they can get if they want to push for the postseason. Right now the starting rotation primarily consists of Dylan Cease, José Soriano and Max Scherzer, with the next two spots being more allocated to the bullpen.

While Spencer Miles has done an outstanding job of holding down the fort for the Jays wherever they ask him to pitch, other names like Spencer Arrighetti and Michael Lorenzen who are both veterans in the game are both struggling with run prevention. While Arrighetti pitched better in Saturday’s game, allowing only one run through 2.2 innings, walking two and striking out a pair, he still has recorded a 6.87 ERA over his five outings since joining the Blue Jays.

Yesavage, 23, has a 3.65 ERA across 18 games pitched this season, and having him back in the rotation is going to be key for potential October ambitions. Across his 18 starts, Yesavage is 5-5 with a 1.14 WHIP and has struck out 91 batters across his 93.2 innings pitched while holding opponents to a .185 average.

With less than two weeks left in the regular season, every game counts and this team is surely going to want to put their best foot forward if they want to chase the Guardians for the final wild card spot.

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