Trey Yesavage profiles as a strong Rookie of the Year candidate, but he won’t have a chance to begin building his case in the near term. The 22-year-old Toronto Blue Jays right-hander landed on the injured list due to shoulder impingement and won’t be ready when the season gets underway later this week. His return is expected to come sooner rather than later — fingers are crossed throughout Canada — but for now, Yesavage is on the shelf.
Five months ago he was turning heads in the World Series. With just six MLB outings under his belt — three in the regular season, and three across the ALDS and ALCS — Yesavage bedeviled LA batters with an array of high-riding heaters and diving splitters. He was especially dominant in Game 5, fanning a dozen Dodgers while allowing three baserunners and a lone run over seven frames.
His meteoric rise and eye-popping postseason performances raised his public persona, but the Pottstown, Pennsylvania native hasn’t otherwise changed since being drafted 22nd overall in 2024 out of East Carolina University. He’s still polite and unassuming, and his overpowering arsenal has remained in place.
“I’m pretty much the same dude,” Yesavage told me at Blue Jays camp last week. “The pitches are the same. The velocity and movement are the same. I also don’t look at [the metrics] all that much. Whenever Trackman is up on the board, all I really look at is the vert on my heater, and the velo. The only questions I’ll ask my pitching coach are to make sure that my most-used pitch is in line.”
That would be his four-seam fastball, which averaged 94.7 mph and 19.5 inches of induced vertical break across his smattering of regular season outings. Thrown at a 45.2% clip, the offering was augmenting by a slider (28.4%) and a splitter (26.4%), the last of those offerings being the righty’s most lethal weapon. A quintessential complement to his well-elevated heaters, Yesavage’s splitter induced a 57.1% whiff rate and a .111 BAA against big-league hitters.
He began tinkering with his signature pitch in the middle of his three collegiate seasons, but it wasn’t until his draft year that the efforts bore fruit.
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“I came into campus my sophomore year with a circle change, and it was pretty bad,” recalled Yesavage. “My pitching coach, Austin Knight, recommended trying out the split. It would be good in catch play, but once I got on a mound, I wouldn’t be able to locate it, wouldn’t be able to throw it the way I wanted to. I probably only threw it in a game twice all year. It was only in my junior fall that it became my best weapon.”
Finding the right finger placements and pressure points were keys to the pitch’s development. So was a mindset of horizontal intent that resulted in vertical drop.
“I try to cut it,” Yesavage explained. “Kind of a baby cut. I’m trying to get the middle finger around the ball, just a little bit. It doesn’t actually cut, but that gets the seams in the right position for me. I was trying to get more downward action, Austin Knight recommended trying to cut it, and it worked out.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Amed Rosario is 6 for 9 against Garrett Crochet.
Wayne Garrett went 9 for 16 against Clay Carroll.
Carroll Hardy went 8 for 18 against Joe Nuxhall.
Ted Williams went 10 for 18 against George Caster.
Ben Oglivie went 8 for 16 against Oil Can Boyd.
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Cole Young has had an impressive spring. Slated to start at second base when the Seattle Mariners kick off their 2026 season on Friday, the 22-year-old 2022 first-rounder out of a Wexford, Pennsylvania high school boasts a 172 wRC+ and six home runs over 59 Cactus League plate appearances. Moreover, the most recent of his blasts, which he hit on Friday, went a reported 478 feet.
When I first wrote about him in October 2024, the piece was titled For Mariners Prospect Cole Young, Contact is Preferable to Power. Then playing in the Arizona Fall League, he explained that his M.O. was controlling the strike zone and hitting line drives, and from that approach he would be “occasionally running into a ball for a homer.”
That hasn’t changed.
“I try to be the same hitter I’ve always been,” Young told me at Peoria Sports Complex late last month. “Put the ball in play. Hit it hard somewhere. I’ve never really tried to sell out for power, or anything like that. I’ve always just tried to get on base, take my walks, put the ball in play and not strike out a lot. That’s what I do best.”
Young’s left-handed stroke propelled just nine balls over fences last season, five over 245 plate appearances with Triple-A Tacoma, and four over 257 PAs after receiving his first-league call up at the end of May. His stat lines also included a 120 wRC+, a 12.7% walk rate, and an 11.4% strikeout rate with the Rainiers, and an 80 wRC+, a 10.9% walk rate, and an 18.3% strikeout rate with the Mariners.
Acclimating to baseball’s highest level doesn’t come easily, which the youngster readily admitted.
“I learned a lot about the day-to-day life in the big leagues,” he told me. “There are things I didn’t really think about coming up through the minor leagues, like having a solid routine and being aware of certain situations during the game. I also had to tell myself to slow down and let the game come to me, especially in those first few.weeks. I was trying to do too much. I basically had to tell myself that it was the same game I’ve been playing my whole life.”
ZIPS projects Young to log a 94 wRC+ and go deep nine times in what is expected to be his first full MLB season. The Mariners might get more than that. Young isn’t a slugger, but he has enough juice in his bat to put up impressive numbers.
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A quiz:
Of the nine players with 600 or more home runs, only one never won an MVP award. Who is it?
The answer can be found below.
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NEWS NOTES
The inaugural Women’s Professional Baseball League has named Justine Siegel as its first commissioner. Siegel is the founder and president of Baseball for All.
Larry Stahl, an outfielder who played for four teams across the 1964-1973 seasons, died earlier this week at age 84. A native of Belleville, Illinois who logged 400 hits, including 36 home runs, Stahl is best known for drawing a free pass. Playing for the San Diego Padres on September 2, 1972, he walked as a pinch-hitter with two out in the ninth inning, depriving Chicago Cubs pitcher Milt Pappas of a perfect game. Pappas retired the next batter and settled for a no-hitter.
Tony Balsamo, a right-hander who appeared in 18 games for the Chicago Cubs in 1962, died on March 12 at age 89. The Fordham University product was on the losing end of his only decision, allowing a 13th-inning run in a 6-5 defeat to the New York Mets at the Polo Grounds.
The Mets announced Tuesday that they will introduce no-delay digital radio broadcasts for fans attending games at Citi Field beginning in 2026, aiming to synchronize the in-stadium experience with live play-by-play commentary (per Inside Radio).
SABR has begun announcing speakers for its 54th annual convention, which is scheduled for July 29–August 2, 2026, in Cleveland. The 1990s Cleveland Indians panel will comprise Sandy Alomar Jr., Carlos Baerga, Mike Hargrove, Kenny Lofton, and Charles Nagy. Paul Hoynes will serve as moderator.
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The answer to the quiz is Jim Thome. The slugger’s highest MVP finish was fourth, in 2003 when he hit 47 of his 612 career home runs while playing for the Philadelphia Phillies.
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Spencer Torkelson hasn’t had a good spring — he’s gone just 8-for-38 with one walk and nine strikeouts.— although he did homer on back-to-days this past Sunday and Monday. Addressing the first of those blasts, which came against Yankees right-hander Luis Gil, the Detroit Tigers first baseman credited his mindset in the batter’s box.
“I fell into a spring training trap,” Torkelson told a small group of reporters, including yours truly. “You try to make sure that your swing is dialed in and kind of forget that you need an approach to hit. So, my swing felt good, but I wasn’t hitting with much of a plan. I got back to a plan today.”
Plans and swings in mind, I asked Torkelson if he could point to a reason for last season’s inconsistency. While his production fell off in the second half, it wasn’t a straight downward spiral. As his monthly splits suggest, there were a lot of ebbs and flows over the course of the campaign.
“I think that’s baseball; it’s really hard to maintain right up here,” replied Torkelson, lifting a hand to head level. “As much as I’d like to be up there all the time, it’s just really tough. That’s what you’re chasing every single day, but…
“Probably the consistency of my plan,” he continued. “It sounds so simple. It’s like, “Why don’t you just do this every time?’ This game is weird. If I could just go up there and have complete confidence every single time, with a perfect plan, you probably wouldn’t see that.”
Torkelson finished the 2025 season with 31 home runs and a 118 wRC+. ZIPs projects him to essentially match those numbers in 2026.
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Which player is the key to the Cincinnati Reds’ success this season? I asked that question of Chris Welsh, who is entering his 34th season as one of the team’s broadcast analysts.
“When the Reds plucked Matt McLain out of UCLA in the first round of the 2018 draft, they wanted him badly enough to pay $1 million over slot at No. 17 to make him a Red,” said Welsh, a former big-league pitcher who along with serving as an analyst operates the interactive website Baseball Rules Academy. “He delivered right away, lighting it up as a rookie in 2023 with a .290/.357/.507 line, but a torn labrum wiped out his 2024 season. When he returned last year, the production wasn’t there: .220/.300/.343. The swing just wasn’t right. Right-handed sliders, in particular, gave him fits.
“This offseason, McLain worked with Reds hitting coach Chris Valaika and made lower-half adjustments. The changes are subtle but important. He’s using a slightly longer bat, setting up with his left toe turned inward and, most noticeably, keeping more weight on his back leg through the swing. The added stability has him staying through the baseball and covering right-handed sliders much better. The early returns have been eye-opening. He’s been the hottest hitter in the Cactus League [.529/.571/1.020]. Fans will come to watch the 6-foot-6 De La Cruz, but it might be the 5-foot-8 McLain who makes this lineup go.”
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Spring training standouts:
Athletics infield prospect Leo De Vries is 20-for-47 with three doubles and three home runs.
Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho is 19-for-46 with five doubles and five home runs.
Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford is 16-for-36 with three doubles and five home runs.
Boston Red Sox outfield prospect Braiden Ward is 16-for-44 with three doubles, and has stolen 19 bases in 22 attempts.
Washington Nationals right-hander Cade Cavalli has a 19.6% strikeout rate and has allowed four hits and one run, which unearned, over 14 innings.
Minnesota Twins right-hander Mick Abel has a 34.8% strikeout rate and has allowed 12 hits and four runs over 18 innings.
San Francisco Giants left-hander Robbie Ray has a 29.2% strikeout rate and has allowed seven hits and three runs over 19-and-two-thirds innings.
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Which player is the key to the San Francisco Giants’ success this season? I asked John Shea, who covers the club for The San Francisco Standard.
“When Buster Posey traded for Rafael Devers in mid-June, the plan was for the slugger to ignite the Giants to the playoffs,” Shea replied via email. “They were 41-31 before he arrived, but the Giants didn’t get better, strangely. They got worse. They went 40-50 on Devers’ watch, finishing at .500. Now it’s time for Devers and the Giants to deliver. His chaotic time in Boston is in the distant past, and he’s now familiar with the new league, the new city, and his new position. That defensive guru Ron Washington is now aboard is a big help in Devers’ transition from third base to first base.
“Devers’ biggest contribution will be at the plate, and the Giants are hoping for a bigger year after he hit just .236 as a Giant and .252 overall with a career-high 192 strikeouts. He did hit 35 home runs, 20 as a Giant, and his power played at pitcher-friendly Oracle Park.
“Along with Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and newcomers Luis Arraez and Harrison Bader, the Giants will have a better lineup. Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle joined the rotation, but there are serious questions about the bullpen depth. A monster year by Devers, the Giants’ most feared hitter since Barry Bonds, will go a long way toward making this team a contender.”
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A random obscure former player snapshot:
Small sample size aside, Randy Asadoor is statistically one of the top hitters in San Diego Padres history. An infielder who appeared in 15 games for the NL West club in 1986, the Fresno native notched 20 hits in 55 at-bats, giving him a career .364 batting average to go with his .397 OBP and 138 wRC+. Those heady numbers came despite an auspicious start. Asadoor fanned in four of his first five plate appearances, including his first three.
He was originally in the Rangers organization. Texas drafted Asadoor 57th overall out of Cal State Fresno in 1983, one spot in front of Rick Aguilera, who went to the New York Mets, and 10 spots in front of Wally Joyner, who went to the California Angels. The Rangers subsequently swapped Asadoor to the Padres in April 1985, receiving 20-year-old pitching prospect Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams in return.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
At Seattle Sports, Shannon Drayer wrote about how former FanGraphers Dave Cameron and Jeff Sullivan played meaningful roles in a recent Seattle Mariners-Tampa Bay Rays trade.
St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom sat down with The Athletic’s Tyler Kepner for a Q&A.
Pitcher List’s Ben Palmer looked back at the five best cutters of 2025.
The beat writers who cover the five AL West teams for MLB.com offered their respective takeaways from spring training.
Eleven minor league teams have names that date back at least 100 years, and another, the Rochester Red Wings, fall just short of the century mark. Benjamin Hill has the story at MLB.com.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Venezuela, which won this year’s World Baseball Classic, is the only South American nation that has never qualified for FIFA’s World Cup.
Dominic Canzone had an 11.8% walk rate, a .368 OBP, and a .345 SLG versus left-handed pitchers last season. He had a 6.0% walk rate, a .355 OBP, and a .524 SLG versus right-handed pitchers.
Counting the postseason, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a record of 26-10 since coming to MLB. The 27-year-old right-hander went 70-29 in NPB, and is 2-0 in the World Baseball Classic.
Kyle Freeland will break his own club record when he makes his fifth Opening Day start for the Colorado Rockies on Friday. The 32-year-old right-hander is 1-2 in his previous Opening Day starts — he got a no-decision last season in a 3-2 Rockies loss — and has an overall career mark of 65-90.
Walter Johnson made 14 Opening Day starts for the Washington Nationals and threw a shutout in seven of them. The last of those starts came on April 13, 1926 when he went all 15 innings in a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Athletics.
Dave “Boo” Ferriss had complete-game wins in each of his first eight big-league starts, allowing just six runs along the way. The Boston Red Sox right-hander went on to finish his 1945 rookie season 21-10 with a 2.96 ERA. He proceeded to go 25-6 with a 3.25 ERA in 1946.
The Boston Red Sox dealt Sparky Lyle to the New York Yankees in exchange for Danny Cater and a PTBNL (Mario Guerrero) on today’s date in 1972. It wasn’t one of the smarter trades the Red Sox have made. Cater and Guerrero combined to play five lackluster seasons in Boston, while Lyle logged 141 saves, made three All-Star teams, and won a Cy Young Award while wearing pinstripes.
The Texas Rangers signed Mike Schooler as a free agent on today’s date in 1993. Formerly a closer with the Seattle Mariners — he had 63 saves across the 1989-1990 seasons — Schooler went 3-0 with a 5.55 ERA, and was sans a save, in 17 appearances with Texas. It proved to be his final MLB season.
Players born on today’s date include Overton Tremper, an outfielder who saw action in 36 games for his hometown Brooklyn Robins across the 1927-1928 seasons. Newly graduated with a degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School when he made his MLB debut, Tremper went on to record 20 hits in 91 career at-bats. He later earned a master’s degree in education from New York University and became a high school math teacher.
Also born on today’s date was Scott Bradley, a catcher who logged 424 hits, including 18 home runs, while playing for four teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners, from 1984-1992. A graduate of the University of North Carolina, Bradley has been the head baseball coach at Princeton University since 1998.