Blue Jays Land Prized Pitcher After Trey Yesavage Drops to 20th Pick In MLB Draft
Image credit: Trey Yesavage (Mike Janes/Four Seam Images)
The biggest faller on day one of the MLB Draft was East Carolina righthander Trey Yesavage. No one should be happier about that than the Toronto Blue Jays.
Yesavage came into the draft ranked 11th on the Baseball America Top 500 with an expectation to go somewhere between picks 10 and 15. That turned out not to be the case, as Yesavage dropped down to Toronto at pick No. 20.
In any sport, when top draft prospects slide down the board, it often becomes a major theme of ensuing coverage. Sometimes players slide for a good reasons. Other times, it winds up being a poor decision to pass on a player. Mock drafts are popular, but they’re no more than educated guesses, and it’s hard for media and the general public to know everything going on in draft rooms. By the same token, not all players who slip are doomed.
In the days leading up to the draft, there were rumors that Yesavage could slide and might be available to teams after pick 11. Yesavage didn’t just slide; he tumbled out of the teens and landed all the way down at pick 20. This was a development the Blue Jays were more than happy to pounce on. When considering best-case scenarios at pick 20, the idea of landing Yesavage was one of the better outcomes the team could have envisioned.
Chris Curtis, the Blue Jays’ northeast cross-checker who oversees area scout Coulson Barbiche, was ecstatic with the selection.
“We were prepared for any situation (at pick 20),” Curtis said. “When Trey was there, we were very excited from what he did this year and what he did at ECU throughout his career. It’s not often you land someone who projects for three plus pitches and lots of strikes at pick 20.”
The fit was good for both organization and player, as Toronto has done well developing college pitchers within their system. Players like Ryan Jennings, Juaron Watts-Brown and Chad Dallas have all enjoyed strong seasons over the last few years for the Blue Jays, and they’ve hardly ever shopped among the top college pitchers, meaning Yesavage provides a higher-upside player at a good value.
Yesavage, however, brings a much more lofty pedigree than that group and a higher floor as a starter. Curtis explained why the organization was so high on the 20-year-old and his stuff.
“We love his riding fastball, which is up to 98 mph and he holds mid 90s deep into games,” Curtis said. “It’s paired with his hard gyro slider and tumbling split. He’ll flash a solid curveball, as well, for strikes. His superpower is his ability to tunnel his pitches and compete in the zone.”
The stuff is not in question, nor the performance. Over three seasons with East Carolina, a preeminent mid-major school, Yesavage made a total of 65 appearances—including 29 starts over the last two seasons—totaling nearly 200 innings. In 2024, Yesavage produced a 11-1 record with a 2.03 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 145 strikeouts to 32 walks over 93.1 innings.
So why the tumble? Some signs pointed to health concerns. Bad medicals can often place even the most decorated pitchers in crosshairs of doubt as teams pick each player apart while assessing for risk. What may seem risky at pick No. 10 differs from what is considered a gamble at pick 20.
Ultimately, the Blue Jays seemed less concerned with Yesavage’s health than they were his track record.
“I’m not concerned on injury issues,” Curtis said. “He’s thrown a lot of innings and a lot of strikes. He’s posted for two years, which is usually a good indicator of success.”
Often, the most important trait for a college pitcher to project as a pro starter, is a track record of success while working deep into games. Yesavage has proven that he embodies those traits. Time will tell if his medical concerns were valid or just an overblown concern for what was one of college baseball’s more successful pitchers.
