Blue Jays once again turn to rookie Trey Yesavage for must-win ALCS Game 6

TORONTO — Great pitchers are defined by their ability to make adjustments and now it’s on rookie Trey Yesavage to prove that he can do it.

The 22-year-old Yesavage will start for the Blue Jays on Sunday in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series as Toronto fights to stay alive in the post-season. Logan Gilbert gets the ball for the Seattle Mariners, who hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“All the work all season has led up to this moment, not only for me, but for the team that has been doing it since March,” said Yesavage in a news conference during optional workouts on Saturday. “Everything has led us to this point, and we’re able to show the world who we are, so it’s special.”

Yesavage started his season with the single-A Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida Complex League and moved his way through every level of Toronto’s full-season minor-league system, arriving in the big leagues as a September call-up.

He earned a win in his three regular-season starts for the Blue Jays, with 16 strikeouts over 14 innings and a 3.21 earned-run average. He was brilliant in his post-season debut on Oct. 5, striking out 11 Yankees over 5 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball as Toronto went on to beat New York 13-7.

But Seattle has given him a harder time in the ALCS.

Yesavage gave up five runs over four innings as Toronto fell to the Mariners 10-3 in Game 2 of the ALCS on Monday. The Blue Jays took two of three games in Seattle to force Game 6.

The rookie said he took full advantage of those three games to observe how Toronto’s other starters prepared and figure out how to make adjustments when facing the same team twice in a week.

“I learned that it’s not just one game because I have to come back out here and pitch Game 6,” said Yesavage. “So being able to move on from a start, whether good or bad, and go out there and treat it like a new day.”

Blue Jays manager John Schneider said that although Yesavage is young, he’s learned a lot over his first season as a professional baseball player, even if it was spread across five levels of the game.

“I think just what he’s done this whole year, not just here with us in the big leagues, but over the course of his season,” said Schneider. “He’s pitched in a lot of big games. He’s pitched in big regular-season games, he’s pitched in big post-season games, and he’s handled himself well.

“I don’t want to put all of the pressure on Trey. He’s the starting pitcher. We’re going to have nine guys in the lineup that have got to do their job and guys that have got to do their job on defence, too.”

Gilbert said he was honoured to be in a position to start for the Mariners and possibly lift them to the World Series for the first time in the franchise’s 48-year history.

“It’s been such a long year that just to get to this point is amazing,” said Gilbert. “But to be the one to have the ball, you grow up dreaming of moments like this, and you don’t know how many you’ll get over the course of your career.

“Some guys never get this so it’s a really big deal and hopefully I just contribute to the team.”

Yesavage agreed.

“This opportunity does not come up very often,” he said. “I was talking to (13-year MLB veteran Kevin) Gausman the other day, and I said, ‘What’s the furthest you’ve made it in the playoffs?’ And he said, ‘This is the furthest I’ve done,’ and he’s been playing this game for a long time.

“I’m very blessed to be in this situation, and I not only want to win and keep playing for myself, but for the guys that have not seen this part of baseball before.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2025.