\u201cI was sitting in there,\u201d Yesavage said. \u201cThinking about the comment I made the other day, where I said \u2018I\u2019m built for this.\u2019 And I was like, well, I\u2019d better back that up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yesavage backed his words \u2014 and then some. It was a five-plus inning spectacle, the Rogers Centre crowd forced to its feet over and over as the righty\u2019s splitter dove under flailing Yankees bats. It was an unforeseeable outing from someone who started the season in Low-A with zero professional appearances to his name. But some, allegedly, saw it coming.<\/p>\n
His teammates and coaches spent the day before his Game 2 start highlighting his remarkable calm. He\u2019s just different, Daulton Varsho said. He has the gripping handshake and growing beard of a much older man.<\/p>\n
Tucked in Toronto\u2019s clubhouse under the lower bowl, as the rotation shared a beer, the sold-out crowd still buzzed above. Some of the Jays\u2019 starters claimed they predicted Yesavage\u2019s dominance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t say the number,\u201d Chris Bassitt said. \u201cBut I called a lot of strikeouts today. I thought he was gonna have a really good day.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\n Trey Yesavage after a strikeout in the fourth inning. (Mark Blinch \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Others saw outings like this coming long before Sunday \u2014 perhaps not as dominant as no-hitting the Yankees through five, but grand starts on the grandest stages. Because Yesavage had done it before. He had embraced it before.<\/p>\n
Six weeks before the Blue Jays selected Yesavage with the 20th pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, he prepared for what was then the biggest start of his life. He didn\u2019t know he\u2019d surpass that significance many times over in the next two years. He didn\u2019t know that he\u2019d one day face Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Yesavage just knew he had his college team\u2019s destiny in his hands. The night before his final college start at East Carolina, Yesavage\u2019s mother was blunt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d she said. \u201cYou got what you wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yesavage was 10 days removed from suffering a partially collapsed lung, most likely caused by an accident during a dry needling session. His East Carolina team had lost in the regional the day before, sliding to the brink of elimination. He was set to face off against Wake Forest and its ace, Chase Burns, who would soon become the second pick in his draft class. Yesavage wanted the ball. He wanted the battle. He was built for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou lose Game 1 in a regional,\u201d ECU coach Cliff Godwin said. \u201cEverybody thinks the world is going to crash down. For him, 10 days out of a punctured lung, and he wants that moment. He wants it.\u201d<\/p>\n
By that point, Yesavage had long been on Toronto\u2019s draft radar. The Blue Jays area scout who signed him, Coulson Barbiche, called Yesavage ready made. He was seen as one of the potential fastest risers in his class. Maybe he could rapidly climb the minors and help the next Blue Jays playoff team. The clutch start in the regional only reinforced it.<\/p>\n
He threw 7 1\/3 innings, striking out eight Wake Forest batters and allowed just one run. He outlasted Burns, stared his manager back into the dugout in his final inning, and led East Carolina\u2019s win. It was the gutsiest start Godwin had ever seen. But on Sunday, in Game 2 of the Division Series, Godwin watched Yesavage pitch even better.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Wake outing was amazing and gutsy,\u201d Godwin said. \u201cThis outing was legendary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trey Yesavage exits after the pitching performance of a lifetime \ud83d\udc4f#ALDS<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/pjctobKmYW<\/a><\/p>\n