Blue Jays’ Trey Yesavage Toys With Adding A Fourth Pitch
The Blue Jays are enamored of righthander Trey Yesavage’s three primary pitches—fastball, splitter and slider.
This offseason, the 2024 first-rounder out of East Carolina is prioritizing the development of a fourth pitch.
“I’d love to add a good curveball to my arsenal,” said the righthander selected 20th overall. “And maybe a cutter. But I don’t want to change too much.”
The Blue Jays don’t want Yesavage to change too much, either. They like where he is at with his raw stuff and want to focus on building him up effectively for 2025. To that end, they feel there are some physical opportunities but largely want to let him go to work.
An intriguing debate over where that should be lies ahead. Yesavage did not pitch after being drafted after logging 93.1 innings at ECU during his junior season, which included a punctured lung.
If the Blue Jays want to be aggressive with the 21-year-old, they could push him to Double-A New Hampshire, a reasonable level for him tools-wise. Starting at High-A Vancouver might make for a smoother entry point and enable him to build confidence.
Yesavage’s maturity on the mound will serve him well, either way.
He describes his demeanor on the mound as “very even-keeled, very clear-headed out there,” someone with “trust in myself to be the best pitcher I can be.”
Allowing him to do that is the three-pitch mix that Blue Jays scouting director Shane Farrell said are aided by the way “he tunnels his pitches extremely well,” which gives him some “added deception.”
Another weapon would amplify all that.
“I threw a knucle-curve that was nothing special this past season or the season before,” Yesavage said. “That’s one thing I definitely think could help me along the way.”
