Blue Jays Rookie Trey Yesavage Has Eerily Similar Mechanics to Future Hall of Famer
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With their first-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, the Toronto Blue Jays selected pitcher Trey Yesavage out of East Carolina. Barely a year later, he is already making an impact for the franchise at the Major League level.
He has been carving up the minor leagues all year. After beginning his professional career at Single-A Dunedin, where he made only seven appearances, he was promoted to High-A Vancouver. Only four starts were made at that level before moving on to Double-A New Hampshire.
Eight appearances were made with New Hampshire before getting a shot with Triple-A Buffalo. It didn’t take long for the Blue Jays to realize he was clearly one of their best pitchers in the organization. Yesavage took the mound six times with the Bison before being called up to the Major Leagues.
He made his Big League debut on Monday against the Tampa Bay Rays. It was a historic outing. He struck out nine batters, the most for a pitcher in a debut in Toronto franchise history. Whiffs were generated at a ridiculous rate as well.
Trey Yesavage Looks Like Young Justin Verlander
Excitement is on the rise for the Blue Jays and their star pitching prospect. And you cannot fault people for thinking big when it comes to his long-term outlook. Especially when keen eyes were able to see a certain future Hall of Famer on the mound at Steinbrenner Stadium on Monday evening when squirting really hard.
Watching Yesavage go through his windup time and time again was a thing of beauty. Mechanically sound, he generates a ton of power in an eerily similar fashion to that of Justin Verlander of the San Francisco Giants. An overlay done by Rob Friedman on X of the two of them throwing pitches is virtually identical.
Trey Yesavage vs. Justin Verlander, Mechanics. pic.twitter.com/knQZMZ6Qd0
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 16, 2025
Verlander is one of the best pitchers of his generation and to ever step foot on an MLB mound. He is a lock to make the Hall of Fame when he calls it a career, whenever that may be. With how well he is finishing out the 2025 campaign, he looks capable of coming back for at least one more season in 2026.
Yesavage is at the opposite end of the spectrum. His career is just beginning, making his first career start on Monday, while Verlander made his 553rd start on Wednesday night. If the talented Toronto youngster can get anywhere close to accomplishing what Verlander has, the Blue Jays are going to be ecstatic.
