Blue Jays' top pitching prospect dominating minor leagues

The Dunedin Blue Jays were firing on all cylinders as they defeated the Lakeland Flying Tigers 12-3 on Saturday night at TD Ballpark in game five of a six-game series.

Trey Yesavage and Gage Stanifer combined to strike out 17 Flying Tigers, the most strikeouts in a game by Dunedin's pitching staff this season.

Yesavage (5 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 10 K) fired five innings and fanned 10 Flying Tigers without issuing a walk.

Yesavage retired the first 12 batters he faced in order and was perfect over his first four innings of work. His first six strikeouts came over a span of seven batters. The Blue Jays No. 2 prospect recorded 18 whiffs on 37 swings for a 49% whiff rate.

Yesavage topped out at 96.3 MPH on his fastball, which averaged 94.5 MPH. Over his first three professional starts, Yesavage has posted a 2.84 ERA over 12.2 frames with 18 strikeouts and opponents' batting .182.

Yesavage was a first-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2024 after a stellar career at East Carolina University. He did not pitch after getting drafted, so this is his first exposure to pro ball. On stuff alone, he was one of the best arms in the class.

His 93-95 mph fastball has great carry from a high, near-over-the-top release point (almost 7 feet), and that steepness plays to his advantage.

A mid-80s slider shows good depth to generate heavy whiffs and a low-80s splitter can be another plus pitch, especially coming off the heater.

A low-80s spike curveball provides another option but wasn't used as much last year.