‘We knew he would be something special,’ Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage’s former coaches reflect on his come-up

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage has been turning heads with his standout performance this post-season – and he’s doing it all as a rookie.

His rapid advancement through the minor leagues was a shock to the baseball world, but not surprising to those around him.

The tale of Trey David Yesavage begins in Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he starred for the Boyertown Senior Area High School Bears. A well-rounded player on the field, Yesavage drew crowds whenever he stepped up onto the mound.

“You don’t often see somebody throwing a big fastball in the nineties in high school,” the Bears Athletic Director Dominic Palladino tells Now Toronto on Friday. “When he would pitch, you could hear it, and everyone loved it.”

Palladino says Yesavage was a force to be reckoned with: “A quiet, big, presence. You see how he is now. He just goes and gets the job done.”

Yesavage joined the Bears as a sophomore in 2019 and led the team to 33 victories over two years (the team did not have a 2020 season due to COVID). Yesavage racked up plenty of accolades through his varsity career and was eventually scouted by the East Carolina Pirates where he pitched from 2022 through to 2024.

East Carolina Pirates Head Coach Cliff Godwin says Yesavage came to him talented, but raw.

“He had a good fastball that he didn’t know exactly where it was going, he had a big breaking ball that he would sometimes spike so early it would bounce over the catcher’s head,” Godwin tells Now.

“Then he just kept getting a little bit better, and became a guy that could come get us out of a bases-loaded jam”

By spring of 2023, Yesavage was the team’s Friday night starter. However, he had not perfected his now-signature splits just yet.

“[Summer of 2023], he was with Team U.S.A. That fall, the split really started coming in, and now he’s a four-pitch guy,” Godwin said.

And a four-pitch guy he is. Speaking to the media post-game, Jays Coach John Schneider referred to Yesavage’s performance as “historic”. He had struck out 12 batters – including L.A. Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani – over seven innings, setting the all-time rookie record for strikeouts in a World Series and becoming the first pitcher to record 12 strikeouts without any walks.

“[His] sliders and splits were electric,” Schneider said. “I’m kind of blown away at what he did.”

In 2024, Yesavage was ranked No. 11 of the MLB’s draft prospects. He was picked in the first round by the Toronto Blue Jays – No. 20 overall.

“I was kind of pissed that he got picked 20th, because I thought he was better than that,” Godwin remembers.

“But I look at it now and I’m like, ‘Thank God he got picked by the Blue Jays, because they’ve just done such a good job handling him and moving him up’”, says Godwin. 

“I commend the organization for doing what they did with [Trey] this year. They moved him very strategically … the way they handled him, the way they trusted him,” Godwin says.

Yesavage had the size and the knack early on. But what really set him apart was his work ethic and his character.

“He knew his goals, and he was tough,” Palladino says of Yesavage as a varsity player. “Whatever he wanted to achieve, he put his nose down to the grindstone and he worked at it. So we knew Trey would always be something special.”

“He showed up, worked hard, did his school work,” Godwin says. “His teammates loved him even when he was a superstar. … I love Trey as a person more than I do any wins he had at East Carolina. … I am very, very proud.”