Tray Yesavig 2025 has been a whirlwind season. After the Blue Jays drafted him in the first round in 2024, Yesavage began 2025 in Single-A and immediately impressed, posting a 2.43 ERA in 33 1/3 innings. He continued that dominance with a brief stop at High-A and reached Double-A in mid-June, posting a 38.0% strikeout rate and 9.0% walk rate at that level. Yesavage then held his own in Triple-A, not allowing a home run in 17 1/3 innings and continuing to post a high strikeout rate. His rapid rise culminated in three appearances for the big league club in September, followed by six more appearances in the postseason, including two starts and a relief appearance in Game 7 of the World Series.
In total, Yesavage pitched 139 2/3 innings between the regular season and playoffs, a notable increase from the 93 1/3 innings he pitched at East Carolina University in 2024. Following his success last year, he will feature prominently in a rotation mix that includes: stop dylan, Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Cody Ponce, Max Scherzerand shane bieber (When he returns from his expected period on the injured list). However, given Yesavizi’s youth and rapidly increasing workload, it is reasonable to expect there to be some sort of innings cap in 2026.
At this point in Spring Training, Yesavage has built up to one inning and has yet to appear in a game, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. This isn’t entirely unexpected, as even established starters gradually grow to the point where they reach their full workload by the end of camp. Manager John Schneider confirmed that Yesavage’s slow build-up was intentional and that he plans to have one more live batting practice session before joining the game. In particular, Schneider downplayed the possibility of Yesavage starting the season as a reliever to limit his innings.
“Right now, we still view him as a starter,” Schneider said. “And we want to keep it pretty regular. Last year was a year where we disrupted the young guy’s routine as much as we could, so we want to keep it pretty regular with him.” Schneider’s comments bode well for Yesavage’s chances of being a full-season starter. That said, it wouldn’t be surprising if the club manages the rookie’s workload conservatively early on, especially if Berrios, Ponce and Scherzer start the year healthy behind Cease and Gausman.
In Schneider’s opinion, the club wants to keep Yesavage regular. It’s questionable how many innings he’ll be able to pitch, but if he does, he’ll likely be in the rotation throughout the season. Yesavage averaged just under five innings per start during the regular season and just over five innings in the postseason. A full season of 33 starts, with five innings per start, would result in approximately 165 innings pitched. This is another big increase in workload. A goal of 140 innings may be more reasonable.
In this scenario, Yesavage could piggyback on Berrios or Ponce for the first month or so. This will give him the advantage of sticking to his starting pitcher routine and making shorter appearances while gradually building his skills. Between Berrios and Ponce, it makes more sense for the former to play piggyback with Yesavage. Berrios made 32 starts per season from 2021-24, but appeared to run out of gas as the 2025 season continued. The ERA in the first half was solid at 3.75, but in the second half it rose to 5.15 over 50.2 innings. He was demoted to the bullpen at the end of September and did not participate in the postseason.
Carrying Yesavage and Berrios could help manage the former’s innings and allow the latter to settle back in after a poor conclusion to 2025. Ponce, by contrast, signed a three-year, $30 million contract this offseason after a successful career with the Korea Baseball Organization. He pitched 180 2/3 innings over 29 starts for the Hanwha Eagles in 2025, posting a stellar 1.89 ERA and 30.3% K-BB ratio and ultimately winning league MVP honors. Ponce made three appearances as a reliever in Japan last year and played primarily as a reliever in his final MLB experience in 2021, but his recent record and contract size make it unlikely he’ll be able to play in a hybrid role.
If the team prefers to keep Yesavage as a traditional starter, they might consider having him skip a few starts in the middle of the season. This would at least be a temporary disruption to his routine, but it might make the most sense from a roster management standpoint. Six-man rotations are becoming increasingly common as a way to manage workloads throughout the season, but they also come with the challenge of having one less reliever. Rather than giving him five days of regular rest, skipping a few of Yesavage’s starts (ideally around scheduled rest days) might be a good compromise to keep him fresh for stretch runs.
Another (unlikely) option would be to keep him as a starter for the regular season and then move him to the bullpen once Toronto makes the postseason. Cease and Gausman have guaranteed spots in the playoff rotation, Bieber is a solid third, and Max Scherzer has plenty of postseason experience. Yesavage has performed well as a starter this postseason, but using him in a firefighter role out of the bullpen could help the team get the most out of him while protecting his long-term health.
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Photo credit: Kevin Sousa, Imagn Images
