PHOENIX -- You’ll have to wait another week to see Trey Yesavage back in the big leagues.
Yesavage will make another rehab start Tuesday with Triple-A Buffalo, which will surely be his last one before rejoining the Blue Jays back in Toronto after their series on the West Coast against the Angels.
It had felt like his recent rehab outing on Wednesday would be all that Yesavage needed, but manager John Schneider had a call recently with Yesavage and pitching coach Pete Walker, where they hammered out this final plan.
“Get back to 75 pitches and let him feel that one more time,” Schneider said. “The goal, going back to Spring Training before the shoulder thing, was that there may have been some… I don’t want to say limitations, but we’re making sure that when he’s back after this slow start, he’s back, and we don’t have to have any more detours.”
Schneider came back to this idea again later, that he wanted Yesavage to “feel” the workload one more time. The Blue Jays want him to feel like he’s established and settled into a bit of a routine instead of feeling like he’s still in the process of building back up.
Yesavage isn’t necessarily the pitcher who will routinely be pushing 100-plus pitches, either. He rarely did that in 2025 across all levels, which was by design, and the Blue Jays will hold onto that design throughout ‘26 as they work to keep him fresh for another postseason run.
After Yesavage pitches with Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday, José Berríos will make his second rehab start on Wednesday with Single-A Dunedin. Berríos allowed five runs over 2 2/3 innings with the Dunedin Blue Jays on Thursday night, but his workload was more important and the pitch count of 47 was encouraging. He sat near 94 mph with his fastball, too, so his velocities look like they’re all the way back after a rough 2025 season.
If Berríos stays on this path, he could be trailing close behind Yesavage on the comeback trail.
“I would say one [start], maybe two,” Schneider said.
Even with the extra week of waiting time, the Blue Jays will welcome Yesavage back with one big exhale. This rotation has gone through a brutal stretch of injuries, including Cody Ponce, who underwent surgery on his right ACL Friday and is done for the season. Shane Bieber (right elbow inflammation) is still building up, too, and while he’s right on track, he’ll still need to simulate a full Spring Training down in Dunedin.
Even on the big league roster, Eric Lauer has battled through a flu bug and not performed well. Max Scherzer has battled forearm tendinitis and will carry a 9.58 ERA into his fourth start of the season Saturday against the D-backs. Patrick Corbin, who signed a $1 million deal earlier in April, is actually making a bit of a case to stick around.
We’re still far from being able to call this rotation “stable”, and even further from Spring Training, when it felt like the Blue Jays had too many starting pitchers. If they can stay above water just once more through the rotation, though, the breakout star of their 2025 World Series run will finally return.