What Blue Jays Fans Can Expect from Trey Yesavage in Return from IL Tuesday
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The Toronto Blue Jays have been dealing with a long line of injuries especially in the pitching staff, with the bad luck starting before the season even began.
Guys like Shane Bieber and José Berríos went down before the year started, while Max Scherzer and Cody Ponce have been injured during the year. By far the pitcher Toronto fans were most excited to see though had the start of his season delayed in right-hander Trey Yesavage.
The Blue Jays top prospect is coming off some heroic performances in the postseason, but pitching deeper into a year than he had in his entire life had some consequences and caused right shoulder inflammation during his ramp up.
Toronto has taken its time with the 22-year-old and hope that caution will wind up paying off with some great performances here in short order, but what does that mean for his season debut on Tuesday night?
Blue Jays Fans Should Temper Early Expectations for Yesavage
It's easy to let expectations get out of hand based on how spectacular Yesavage was during last October, but that does not mean he is going to start the season red hot and pick up right where he left off.
Even if he does look to be in midseason form, it's safe to say John Schneider and this coaching staff is going to continue to be cautious with building Yesavage up, and it would not be a surprise on Tuesday to see him make a relatively short appearance.
Depending on pitching count, something less than five full innings feels like the most likely outcome for Yesavage's first start of the season.
Yesavage Can Save Toronto's Rotation, Just Not Right Away
The Blue Jays are just a half game out of last place in the American League East, and the pitching staff is far from the only reason why. This team is dealing with a ton of injuries on offense as well as inconsistency in the bullpen as well, so things go far beyond Yesavage.
Asking a 22-year-old trying to tackle his first full MLB season to be the staff's ace and go seven innings deep right away is a recipe for disaster, and though there is no denying the talent of Yesavage, Toronto needs to give him some room to grow here.
By the way they sat him down for the first month of the season to allow him to get healthy, it does seem like that is what they are going to do.
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Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.