TAMPA -- The comparisons feel easy between Trey Yesavage and Kevin Gausman.
They’re big right-handers. They dominate with a splitter. They both debuted at 22. Listening to all of these parallel lines be drawn, though, Gausman still just smiles and shakes his head. He’s not biting.
“I was nowhere near that when I was 22. Don’t even compare me to him,” Gausman said.
Gausman, like the rest of us, was left in awe by Yesavage’s MLB debut Monday in Tampa. Over five-plus innings, Yesavage struck out nine Rays batters -- a Blue Jays record for a pitcher in their debut -- and these weren’t just regular strikeouts. These were the types of strikeouts you typically see from overwhelmed Single-A hitters, where Yesavage started his season five months and four levels ago.
“He made Brandon Lowe look like he’s never seen a changeup before, and that guy’s a good changeup hitter,” Gausman said. “That was the one at-bat when I was like, ‘Wow, that pitch is elite.’”
Standing on the top step of the visiting dugout on the third-base side in Tampa, Gausman had the perfect angle to watch what makes Toronto's No. 1 prospect special. He could see the vertical movement of Yesavage’s slider, which was on the long list of surprises for Gausman, but more than anything, he could see the dynamic between Yesavage’s fastball and incredible splitter. Rays hitters swung 14 times at the splitter and whiffed 11. Few Major League starters even dream of a whiff rate like that on a single pitch … but Gausman is one of those few.
Up and down the Blue Jays’ dugout, Yesavage’s teammates were stuck checking the iPads. What did that guy just throw?
“He’s just funky. It’s funky. His setup is funky,” Gausman said. “He’s pounding the zone. That was pretty fun to watch. The first two hitters, you’re like, “Oh … [crap]. Is this a welcome to The Show type of thing?’ He just needed to get acclimated to the game, I guess. I haven’t seen a young guy make a debut like that ever.”
Gausman’s decade-old prospect ranking doesn’t tell the full story of his career, though. That’s why his perspective is so valuable here. Once the golden boy in Baltimore, where he and Dylan Bundy were expected to be the Orioles’ one-two punch for years to come, Gausman found his career didn’t go that way.
He struggled, often saying he was “a bit of a hot head” back in those Baltimore days. He was kicked to the bullpen, even designated for assignment while he bounced around the league until he finally mastered the splitter that’s changed his baseball life. Along the way, he learned all about the pitfalls of life in the big leagues, some of which can swallow a “next big thing” whole.
“I’ve played with so many guys, especially in Baltimore, where I thought, ‘This guy’s going to be in Baltimore for the next 10 years.’ Next thing you know, he’s not,” Gausman said. “That’s the nature of the beast.”
If you’re lazy and have gotten by on talent alone, the big leagues will expose you. If you party too much, the big leagues will expose you. Every seventh-grade classmate and old friend you hung out with 10 years ago will be messaging you for tickets. Gausman is 34 now, and he still gets those. It’s so easy to lose sight of the road and end up in the ditch.
“Any vice you have is going to be magnified,” Gausman said. “[Yesavage] seems like a guy you’re never really going to have to worry about. He’s only been here a couple of days and I’ve only talked to him a couple of times, but he just seems way older than 22. Me at 22 and him at 22? Big, big difference.”
You can learn a lot about a rookie by sitting quietly in the corner and watching how they walk into a clubhouse. The way they move, the look in their eyes, the way they approach their first teammates and how they set up their locker are all clues. Those who have been around the big leagues for a while can read these moments with a glance.
Yesavage looked like he belonged. He looked like he would be here for a while. Gausman saw all of it, but he didn’t see himself.