TORONTO — A 22-year-old rookie just delivered one of the most dominant playoff pitching displays in baseball history, and the Yankees had no answer for it.
Trey Yesavage sliced through the Yankees lineup with ease on Sunday at Rogers Centre. His electric debut helped lead the Blue Jays to a 13-7 win in Game 2 of the American League Division Series. Toronto now holds a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, putting the Yankees on the brink of elimination.
Yesavage was nearly untouchable. The right-hander struck out 11 batters over 5 1/3 hitless innings. He walked only one. The Yankees never found a way to figure him out.
A rookie rewriting the record books
Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP
Yesavage didn’t just pitch well. He made history in multiple ways.
His first record came in the fourth inning when he notched his ninth strikeout. That broke the Blue Jays’ postseason strikeout record, which was previously eight, shared by Dave Stieb, David Price (twice), and Juan Guzman.
By the time manager John Schneider removed him in the sixth, Yesavage had reached 11 strikeouts. That number now stands as the highest in a single playoff game in Blue Jays history.
The second record carried league-wide significance. At 22 years and 69 days old, Yesavage became the second-youngest pitcher in MLB history to record double-digit strikeouts in a postseason game. Only John Candelaria, who had 14 strikeouts at age 21 in the 1975 NLCS, was younger.
The third mark came early. Yesavage matched Patrick Corbin’s postseason record with 10 strikeouts through the first four innings. Corbin had set that record in Game 4 of the 2019 NLCS.
Yankees couldn’t solve Yesavage’s arsenal
The Yankees came into Game 2 as the top-scoring offense in baseball during the regular season. But against Yesavage, none of that firepower mattered.
His splitter proved to be the biggest problem. The pitch came from a high, over-the-top delivery that baffled Yankees hitters. Of the 16 splitters he threw, 11 generated swinging strikes.
“It just comes down to the funky release,” said Ben Rice, who struck out twice. “Just kind of playing [the splitter] off that fastball. It’s something I think we were a little unfamiliar with.”
“It’s kind of right over the top, releasing it right above his head,” Judge said. “So everything’s kind of coming down into the zone, and you’ve got to pick it up. It’s either going to stay in the zone or kind of drop down around your knees.”
Giancarlo Stanton called it “good deception.” He swung through one slider and grounded out on another.
Backing up bold words
The day before his historic start, Yesavage stood calmly at a press conference and answered questions about the pressure of pitching in the biggest game of his life.
“I’m built for this,” he said.
Those words lingered with him as he prepared to take the mound.
“I was sitting in there thinking about the comment I made the other day, where I said, ‘I’m built for this,'” Yesavage said. “And I was like, ‘Well, I’d better back that up.'”
He did just that. One of the most telling moments came in the first inning. Trent Grisham, the Yankees leadoff hitter, called timeout with a 1-2 count. He stepped out for a few practice swings. Yesavage didn’t move. He stayed locked in, standing tall with the ball tucked in his glove.
When Grisham stepped back in, Yesavage unleashed a splitter. Strike three. The first of 11 punchouts.
The crowd erupted when Schneider pulled him
Schneider made his way to the mound in the sixth with the Blue Jays up 12-0. As he walked out, boos rained down from the Rogers Centre crowd. They didn’t want to see Yesavage come out.
Those boos quickly turned into a loud standing ovation.
“It’s happened a lot, but that was the best,” Schneider said. “I was kind of joking with [Kevin] Gausman, Max [Scherzer], Biebs [Shane Bieber] and [pitching coach] Pete Walker like, ‘Wish me luck, I’m going out there.’ That was special for him to kind of have that moment.”
Yesavage acknowledged the moment with a curtain call. He stepped up from the dugout and raised both arms. The crowd roared once more.
“This has got to be cloud nine,” Yesavage said. “I couldn’t imagine a better feeling right now.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who hit the first postseason grand slam in Blue Jays history earlier in the game, praised the young pitcher.
“He’s built for this,” Guerrero said. “I feel very proud for him. He’s a young kid. He’s hungry to win, and I feel very proud for what he did today.”
A meteoric rise through the organization
The Blue Jays selected Yesavage with the 20th overall pick in the 2024 draft. Just six months ago, he threw his first professional pitch in Single-A.
He climbed through every level of Toronto’s system in one season. He made only three major league starts in September before this playoff appearance.
None of those starts came against the Yankees. That worked in the Blue Jays’ favor.
“It was definitely something you had to adjust to,” Rice said.
The Yankees never adjusted. They didn’t make consistent contact until the seventh inning, when the Blue Jays bullpen took over. New York scored seven runs off Toronto relievers. But the damage had already been done.
Historic loss for Yankees pitching
The Yankees allowed double-digit runs in back-to-back playoff games for the first time in franchise history. Through the first two games in Toronto, the Yankees have been outscored 23-7.
Teams that go up 2-0 at home in a Division Series have won 31 of 34 times. Twenty of those series ended in sweeps.
But on Sunday, the night belonged to Trey Yesavage. The rookie who said he was “built for this” put together a postseason debut that the Yankees won’t forget anytime soon.
The Yankees were the latest team to learn just how serious that statement was.
