By Ethan Hyatt,Just Baseball

Copyright yardbarker

Comfortably the third best college arm in the 2024 class behind only Chase Burns and Hagen Smith, Yesavage slipped to the latter third of the first round due to some health concerns, but early returns have justified the Blue Jays decision to take him at pick No. 20 as Yesavage’s good feel for a quality three pitch mix should help him get to Toronto quickly.

Yesavage releases his three pitch mix from what would be one of the highest points in baseball, roughly 7.1 feet high. Such a towering release point can hedge the perceived ride of a fastball, but Yesavage averages north of 20 inches of induced vertical break in the mid 90s, still making it an above average fastball that can play well at the top. There’s also more deception built in compared to the average over-the-top release, as his shoulders rock backwards with his glove high.

The high release and ability to hide the ball works in the favor of his secondaries, both of which featuring good vertical separation from the fastball. Yesavage took a huge leap with his splitter in his draft year, with the pitch looking like a plus offering in the mid 80s. Averaging nearly 20 inches of total separation, the pitch is difficult to pick up out of the hand, generating high chase rates and a lot of ground balls.

Yesavage’s 86-88 MPH gyro slider was his most trusted secondary through his collegiate career. The vertical action on it makes it effective against hitters of both handedness, though it plays best against righties, where it flashes above average. It was a consistent weapon for him in his junior season picking up a third of his strikeouts with it, while allowing just one extra base hit.

The Blue Jays started conservative with a relatively conservative assignment, kicking his pro career off at Low-A where he immediately overwhelmed hitters. It’s more control over command for Yesavage, but his ability to generate both high chase and whiff rates has helped him navigate in starts where he is not around the zone as much. Despite the conservative assignment, Yesavage is a likely candidate to climb quickly with the pitch mix to dream.

Yesavage bears similarities to current Blue Jay Kevin Gausman in terms of his pitch mix, and in his ability to miss bats he might be one of a kind if he can keep up the pace in MLB. This is the first start of many for Trey Yesavage on an MLB field so get used to watching his strikeout strut, you’ll be seeing plenty of it.