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Trey Yesavage’s Game 5 dominance brings Blue Jays within one win of the World Series title
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Photo credit: © Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
Nick Prasad
Oct 30, 2025, 09:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 30, 2025, 08:13 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays sent their top pitching prospect, Trey Yesavage, to the hill once again to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the 2025 World Series. It was his first road start in the postseason, and Yesavage did not at all disappoint in this one. 
The Blue Jays bounced back, tying the series up at two apiece the day before, and trusted in their top rookie pitcher to lead them back into Toronto with a championship on the horizon. Yesavage maintained dominance and shut down the Los Angeles Dodgers throughout the night. 
Toronto’s bats took flight early on in the game, setting the offensive tone. First-inning home runs from David Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr put the Jays up early, and allowed for Yesavage to coast. 
The 22-year-old was locked in with pure confidence in his pitch options, and his IQ was present. You can tell his knowledge of Dodgers hitters was high, having faced them once already and having seen their tendencies within the past few games. The Dodgers were also a bit more prepared this time around, having seen Yesavage once this series, but it was the Jays starter that got the better of his opponent. 

Yesavage’s zone and pitch usage 

The right-handed rookie was spot-up good in this outing. He threw a total of 104 pitches; 45 pitches were sliders, 30 splitters, and 29 four-seam fastballs. His pitch movement on the two breaking pitches was unreadable, moving vertically around -25 to -35 inches. This was consistent in all usage. 53 pitches were in the zone, while 51 pitches were out of the zone. He was 52-all on pitches taken and swung at; he threw 71 strikes and 33 balls. 
Yesavage allowed only one run, which came off the bat of Enrique Hernandez for a solo shot; the Dodgers were only able to string together four hits all game. The rest of their night was occupied by striking out. 
Here’s a breakdown of Yesavage’s strikeouts:
First Inning
  • Mookie Betts struck out swinging on a slider; three pitch at-bat
Second Inning
  • Freddie Freeman struck out swinging on a splitter; eight pitch at-bat
  • Teoscar Hernandez struck out swinging on a slider; four pitch at-bat
  • Tommy Edman struck out swinging on a splitter; four pitch at-bat
Third Inning
  • Max Muncy struck out looking on a slider; six pitch at-bat 
  • Shohei Ohtani struck out swinging on a splitter; five pitch at-bat
Fourth Inning
  • Will Smith struck out swinging on a slider; four pitch at-bat
  • Mookie Betts struck out swinging on a splitter; four pitch at-bat
Fifth Inning
  • Enrique Hernandez struck out swinging on a splitter; four pitch at-bat
  • Alex Call struck out swinging on a slider; six pitch at-bat
Sixth Inning
  • Will Smith struck out swinging at a slider; three pitch at-bat
Seventh Inning
  • Freddie Freeman struck out swinging on a splitter; four pitch at-bat 
Yesavage finished with 12 total strikeouts, keeping tough Dodgers hitters off balance and on their toes. His pitch sequence averaged three to four pitches per strikeout at-bat, which kept his pitch count healthy through 7 innings. 
Yesavage’s 12 strikeouts set the record for punchouts in a World Series game for a rookie pitcher. The right-hander made history while also recording more postseason starts than regular season starts in the Major Leagues and going the furthest in a single outing compared to any of his previous starts. He’s brought the Jays within one win of the World Series Championship and didn’t crack under the pressure of the bright lights at Dodger Stadium.

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