How Can the Blue Jays Postseason Hero Win the 2026 Rookie of the Year Award?
In 2025, Trey Yesavage became the first pitcher in history to start a game in Single-A, High-A, Double-A, Triple-A, and the World Series all in the same year. He played three seasons for East Carolina University before being drafted 20th overall by the Blue Jays in the 2024 MLB Draft as a 20-year-old. The pitcher made his minor league debut in Florida with the Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays on April 8th. Part of the reason he started at that level was that the three higher Blue Jays affiliate teams all had colder climates in April, which could have negatively impacted his arm.
In mid-May, it became clear that his pitching was too difficult for Single-A batters with a 93-96 mph fastball, an upper-80s slider, and an 83-85 mph splitter. After only seven starts, he made his High-A debut on May 20th with the Vancouver Canadians. There, he only had four starts with a total of 33 strikeouts before his promotion to Double-A on June 12th. During his time with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Yesavage took advantage of the 20-day gap for the MLB All-Star Break to make some minor physical tweaks. Those improvements led him toward being promoted to Triple-A on August 12th. While on the Buffalo Bisons, the Blue Jays experimented by putting the 22-year-old in a relief role, but eventually moved him back to start. Five days later, on September 15th, Trey Yesavage got the call that he was going to the show. To put it into perspective, the 2025 MLB Postseason started on September 30th, so the Blue Jays had about two weeks to see how their rookie handled the pressures of the Major Leagues before deciding to include him in their postseason roster. The same day he got the call, Yesavage started against the Tampa Bay Rays, where he set the franchise record for most strikeouts in an MLB debut with nine. On September 27th, he got his first MLB win, also against the Rays.
After only three major league starts, he made his postseason debut as the starting pitcher in Game Two of the American League Division Series. Not only did the Blue Jays win that game 13-7 against the New York Yankees, but Yesavage also broke the Blue Jays franchise record for most strikeouts in a postseason game with 11 and became the second youngest player in MLB history to have 10 or more strikeouts in a postseason game. The 22-year-old pitcher started two other postseason games leading up to the World Series, meaning that with his Game One start, he had officially played more games in the MLB Postseason than in the regular season. On October 24th, he became the second-youngest player to start in the first game of the World Series. Yesavage closed out his first World Series inning by striking out four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani. In the four innings he pitched, he struck out five batters while only allowing four hits and two runs. Once he got his jitters out, the 22-year-old started breaking records in Game Five. On October 29th, he set the rookie record for the most strikeouts in a World Series Game with 12. This also meant he became the first rookie in postseason history with multiple 10-strikeout games, the youngest pitcher ever with 10 or more strikeouts in a World Series Game, the second pitcher in World Series history with 10 or more strikeouts in the first five innings, and also the first to do so in multiple postseason games. To quote Trey Yesavage himself, “Hollywood couldn’t have made it this good”.
To be considered a rookie in the MLB, a pitcher must not have pitched more than 50 innings or spent more than 45 days on the active roster in a regular Major League season. Yesavage had only three regular-season starts for Toronto; therefore, he is still eligible for the American League Rookie of the Year Award. Despite his postseason heroics, the 22-year-old still hasn’t experienced a full MLB season. He is expected to have a slow start in 2026 so he can get used to the higher demands and not wear his arm out before another highly anticipated postseason run.
Yesavage has not yet played a Spring Training game, and Blue Jays’ manager, John Schnieder, says that he’s not expected to. So far, they’ve only had him throw a two-inning simulated game against minor-leaguers. In addition to acclimating, the 22-year-old is coming off the shortest possible offseason a player could have, compared to the longest possible that he had before last season. The best way for him to stay healthy is to manage his workload, which is exactly what Toronto is doing.
Since the Blue Jays were very successful with their offseason moves, especially with pitchers, they don’t need to rush their rookie to the mound before he’s ready. The team has said there are no concrete plans for how they’ll manage Yesavage. His playing time will reflect how he responds and whatever is best for his health and longevity in the league. There are many theories about how this season could play out, but the 22-year-old has full trust in the team that managed him so well that his first season ended with him breaking World Series records.
