DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Friday morning, Trey Yesavage walked back into the Blue Jays’ clubhouse holding a plaque. He’d just been named the Blue Jays’ 2025 Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
It felt like watching the Academy Awards ceremony, when the nominees for Best Picture are announced and we’re left wondering, "Didn’t that movie come out three years ago?"
This is the same Trey Yesavage who just pitched in the World Series, staring down Shohei Ohtani and the mighty Dodgers in one of the biggest moments in this franchise’s history. It’s easy to forget that Yesavage began the 2025 season in Single-A, even if you’ve heard that story hundreds of times. Across four levels and 98 Minor League innings, Yesavage put up a 3.12 ERA with 160 strikeouts.
Yesavage, ranked as Toronto’s No. 1 prospect and No. 12 overall by MLB Pipeline, was the best pitcher in every uniform he wore. At times, that even applied to the Blue Jays.
It was all a blur. Yesavage is a big-leaguer now, entrenched among the lockers of the Blue Jays’ starters, where veterans swung between celebrating with the 22-year-old and teasing him like the group’s younger brother. He’s had some time to think about it now, and he’ll remember one thing from each stop.
Single-A Dunedin: April to mid-May (7 games)
The TD Ballpark you see in Spring Training is different from the summer experience. When tourists leave town, the realities of pro baseball creep in.
“The grind of what was there,” Yesavage said of what he remembers most. “I was excited for the first start, but after that, we’re playing in front of 200 fans in the heat of Florida. It was a grind to get through every series, but it was fun at the same time. It’s the most adverse place to be playing baseball, and I took that to the next level.”
Yesavage played NCAA ball, where East Carolina’s home stadium holds 5,000 fans and you run into even bigger crowds on the road. Dunedin’s home games bring out dedicated locals, but nothing like what Yesavage was used to.
“In college, we were packing out the stadium,” Yesavage said.
High-A Vancouver: Mid-May to early June (4 games)
Blue Jays prospects love Vancouver. For many, it represents “getting out of Florida” after too many years at the complex. It’s one of the best fan bases in Minor League Baseball, too, and many players’ first exposure to life in Canada.
“I’ll remember the teammates I played with. I got to play with Carter Cunningham, a college teammate of mine and a guy that’s in my wedding,” Yesavage said. “He’s one of my best friends. Getting to play with him again was awesome. The atmosphere at Nat Bailey Stadium was really cool, too.”
This was where Yesavage’s trajectory changed. After just four starts, the Blue Jays shot him right up to Double-A, which opened the door for us to wonder ... could Yesavage take a run at the big leagues?
Double-A New Hampshire: Mid-June to early August (8 games)
Here’s Yesavage’s hot take.
The Fisher Cats’ stadium in Manchester, New Hampshire, comes with its challenges. The right-field wall runs along a street, so it juts in suddenly and measures just 306 feet to the corner. That’s not exactly a pitcher’s best friend, but Yesavage didn’t care.
“So, maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but New Hampshire was my favorite stop in the Minor Leagues,” Yesavage said. “I made my debut there in Reading, which is the team I grew up going to. I grew up 25 minutes away from there. I liked the places we traveled, too. The entire team was cohesive. It was such a fun team to play for. It felt like summer ball, playing loose and just playing baseball.”
Triple-A Buffalo: Mid-August to mid-September (6 games)
By the time Yesavage debuted in Buffalo on Aug. 14, there was no more “maybe”. I was clear that the Blue Jays wanted to take a shot at getting Yesavage to the big leagues in the middle of their postseason run, so Triple-A hitters were his final challenge.
“Before getting up to Toronto, those were the most competitive hitters I’d faced and those were guys who had a real, professional approach,” Yesavage said. “I got a taste of what pro ball could look like, because a lot of them had time [in the big leagues]. I was getting my feet wet.”
One month later, Yesavage made his big-league debut in Tampa.
“It was as special as I thought,” he said that night. "It was almost like there was some sort of trance put over me with a feeling of peace out there.”