Trey Yesavage's Blue Jays World Series coping strategy sounds like a total reset

Getting to the big leagues just over a year after being drafted doesn't happen very often. It's even rarer for a player to make their MLB debut in September and find their way on to a World Series roster just weeks later. But that's what Trey Yesavage did in 2025 and the story book start to his career came up just inches short of the ultimate dream ending.

The Toronto Blue Jays' Game 7 loss in the World Series to the LA Dodgers isn't something Yesavage will soon forget. But in finding a way to cope with the loss, Yesavage may have found the perfect way to approach the new season.

Trey Yesavage's Blue Jays World Series coping strategy sounds like a total reset

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday (Jan. 28) Yeavage says he just needed some time to get away after the loss in that game. Yesavage said, "I spent a lot of time out in the woods hunting and just trying to be with myself and kind of disappear a little bit. … The ending was heartbreaking for everybody in that clubhouse because everyone worked so hard for that moment. But we'll be better for it next season"

It's encouraging to hear those words from such a young athlete. At just 22-years-old and with less than a full month of regular season experience under his belt, Yesavage is still appearing on a lot of "Top Prospects" lists and is also going to be eligible for the American League Rookie of the Year award this season. Even with that somewhat limited experience, Yesavage says he's aware of the task ahead of him as Toronto looks to repeat as AL East division champions, and maybe more.

Yesavage says, "I have two weeks of service time plus the playoffs, so I haven't experienced what a full season looks like. That's what I'm excited for. I had the most workload this year and it's the shortest off-season I've ever had, so I had to navigate taking a little bit of time off, just taking a little break," he explained. "Right now, I'm really just ramping it up for spring training.”

The 6'4" right hander pitched 14 innings in the regular season with 16 strikeouts and five earned runs. In the playoffs he pitched in six games, with five of those being starts and threw 27.2 innings with 39 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.58 and WHIP of 1.048.

FanGraphs is projecting Yesavage to throw 130 innings this season making 24 starts, while making another 10 appearances out of the bullpen. They don't expect his 10.29 K/9 rate to stay that high, bringing him down to a 9.77 mark, but they foresee his 4.50 BB/9 rate to drop (3.75) and his BABIP against of .333 to also come down (.285).

FanGraphs gives him a 1.9 fWAR while Steamer rates him at 2.1. For comparison, Eric Lauer was worth 1.4 fWAR in 104.2 innings last year while Chris Bassitt was worth 2.4 in 170.1 innings pitched. So if Yesavage is somewhere in the middle in terms of production, it's safe to say his first full season in the big leagues will look like a success.