Are Blue Jays Prepping Top Prospect Trey Yesavage for MLB Role This Season?

The Toronto Blue Jays did something with top pitching prospect Trey Yesavage that raised some eyebrows earlier this week.

Mar 1, 2025; North Port, Florida, USA; A detail view of a Toronto Blue Jays hat , sunglasses and glove laying in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves at CoolToday Park. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Toronto Blue Jays are playing like they’ll be a playoff team come October. They have a solid lead in the American League East Division, and even if they were to lose it there would be enough cushion to claim an AL wild card berth.

That means building a plan for the postseason, even as the regular season is more than a month from its conclusion. Toronto accomplished some of that at the trade deadline, bringing in starting pitcher Shane Bieber for depth and acquiring relief pitcher Louis Varland and first baseman Ty France.

Help could come from within, too. At some point outfielder George Springer and infielder Andres Gimenez will return from injury. The same could be true for pitchers Alex Manoah and Bowden Francis. Toronto could also opt to call up players from the minor leagues. But, surely, not one from Double-A New Hampshire?

Could Blue Jays Call up Trey Yesavage?

Trey Yesavage keeps on piling up the K's.

MLB's No. 50 prospect (@BlueJays) fans 9 over 4 innings for the Double-A @FisherCats, pushing season total to 125 in 75 2/3. pic.twitter.com/1GRWnVkOnK

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 2, 2025

Toronto Blue Jays pitching prospect Trey Yesavage is the No. 2 prospect in the organization per MLB Pipeline. He’s at New Hampshire right now and he’s having a special season. In fact, he is among the leaders in minor league baseball in strikeouts.

After the trade deadline Blue Jays manager John Schneider talked to reporters about the future and, per The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon on X (formerly Twitter), Schneider mentioned two pitchers as depth options this season. Yesavage’s name came up so did that of left-hander Adam Macko.

Yesavage is a starter. With Bieber, along with the potential returns of Manoah and Francis, Toronto would seem to be overflowing in that department. But Schneider didn’t mention a role — just depth. And it’s what the organization did with Yesavage on Friday at New Hampshire that was intriguing.

In Friday’s game against Reading, Yesavage didn’t start. He came out of the bullpen in the third inning. In his first professional relief appearance he went five innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs. He struck out nine and walked none.

Trey Yesavage worked out of the 'pen for the first time as a pro tonight at Double-A. He struck out 9, generated 21 whiffs and walked none over 5.0 innings and 89 pitches of 2-run ball.

Will be interesting to see how he is used in his next outing. pic.twitter.com/xhA5bzt9DB

— Zach Worden (@Worden_Zach) August 9, 2025

It is possible this was a beta test on Toronto’s part to see if he could handle a bulk relief role in the Majors? Is that his path to a potential call-up to the Majors when rosters expand on Sept. 1. Would that be enough to put Yesavage on the postseason roster?

Those are all interesting questions that can only be answered by the Blue Jays and what they do next with their top pitching prospect when he pitches again next week with New Hampshire.

Trey Yesavage’s Incredible 2025 Season

Through 19 games (18 starts), Yesavage is 5-1 with a 3.01 ERA. He has 134 strikeouts and 30 walks in 80.2 innings and three different full-season affiliates, but he has yet to pitch for Triple-A Buffalo.

He started the season with Class-A Dunedin in the Florida State League as the Blue Jays wanted to keep him warmer weather. With Dunedin, he went 3-0 with a 2.43 ERA in 33.1 innings, with 55 strikeouts and eight walks. He was named Florida State League pitcher of the week after he threw six shutout innings against the Clearwater Threshers on May 1.

He was promoted to High-A Vancouver in May, and he lasted just four starts. He went 1-0 with a 1.56 ERA, with 33 strikeouts and 11 walks in 17.1 innings. It was more than enough for him to earn his promotion to New Hampshire on June 12. The following month, he played in the MLB Futures Game during All-Star Game weekend in Atlanta.

Yesavage was the No. 20 overall selection last July out of East Carolina, where he was one of college baseball’s most dominant pitchers. At ECU in 2024 he went 11-1 in 15 starts with a 2.02 ERA. He also struck out 145 and walked 32 in 93.1 innings. He won the American Conference’s pitching triple crown.