The Blue Jays added right handed pitcher, Trey Yesavage with the 20th overall pick in the 2024 MLB entry draft. Yesavage came out of East Carolina University, with a very impressive final season posting an 11-1 record and 2.03 ERA. In 93 innings pitched, Trey racked up 145 strikeouts, only walked 32 hitters, and even secured a complete game. Overall, very solid numbers at the Division 1 level, and Yesavage clearly has the potential to be a high valued arm for the team’s system.

The case seems to be that many annalists  have much praise for Yesavage, and that his numbers along with his overall play has been “eye-popping”. His fastball sits around 93-95 mph, with the top out velo reaching upwards of 98 mph, which is more than enough to be successful at the major league level. However, Yesavage’s real put away stuff lies in his breaking pitches, specifically his splitter and slider. Those two pitches have been said to be his best, and I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if they translate well to the MLB and continue to be as effective.

So what does Yesavage bring to the franchise? well as of recently the Blue Jays have been in one of the worst slumps in recent memory, and the farm system as of late has been very dry for talent to help bolster the main roster. Saying that the stakes are high for the Jays to make a good pick in the first round this year is an understatement, since their track record of first round picks since 2015 has been less than exciting. The only players who have been drafted in the first round by the Blue Jays since 2015 who are still on the roster or in the system are Alek Manoah, Nate Pearson, Arjun Nimmala, and Brandon Barriera. Four players in the last nine years, one became an all star (Manoah), and none of them are consistently on the active roster anymore, it’s safe to say that the pressure for Yesavage to develop and turn into a good pitcher for the team is definitely real. What he can bring to the team is yet another high quality arm to their rotation, either as a starter or out of the bullpen.

The Blue Jays current rotation is already stellar, with multiple all star caliber arms and potential Cy Young winners on the roster, but potentially adding another one can never hurt. At least that is the hope with Yesavage, and hopefully in a couple of years we will see him in the major leagues making an impact for the Jays along with the rest of the young talent to hopefully bring the team to a successful and prosperous season in the near future.