With Yesavage in the fold, Blue Jays' need for impact pitching continues

TORONTO – Every summer, once the Blue Jays have signed their first-round draft pick, they’ll fly the player up to Toronto for an informal meet and greet.

The main purpose of these visits is simple enough: allow the player to build familiarity with a new city and a new country while seeing what pro baseball looks like at the highest level. There’s typically a collection of front office officials on hand at field level, and the player’s agents can often be spotted nearby – all in the name of ensuring as smooth a transition as possible to the game’s professional ranks.

Friday afternoon, it was time for this year’s top draft pick to spend the day at Rogers Centre. Trey Yesavage, the 21-year-old right-hander recently taken 20th overall, spent the afternoon in Blue Jays gear, shagging some fly balls in the outfield and getting acquainted with the players, coaches and staff he hopes to get to know much better in the years ahead.

“Met him briefly (and) talked to him for about five minutes,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “Impressive young man. Good, firm handshake and eye contact … Overall good first impression. Seems like he's got his act together.”

With a 2.03 ERA and 145 strikeouts in 93.1 innings at East Carolina this year, the on-field results were impressive enough to make him a clear first-round pick. Thanks to a deceptive fastball that sits 93-95 m.p.h. and a plus slider, he has some important building blocks for succeeding in the major leagues.

“I feel great,” Yesavage said from within the home dugout before first pitch. “I feel fresh. I’m ready to get to work.”

As with every first-round pick, there are no guarantees, no matter how advanced he appears to be. And as with every top selection, his progress will be worth watching closely. But the particular context in which Yesavage enters the organization makes his progress even more intriguing than usual.

Yesavage, who signed for a $4,177,500 bonus, joins a team with a clear need for pitching. That can be said of any team, at any time, of course, but the Blue Jays’ need is especially pronounced these days.

Top prospects, including Ricky Tiedemann, Brandon Barriera and Landen Maroudis, have sustained significant injuries this season, and 26-year-old right-hander Alek Manoah is out for the year, too. Last week, the Blue Jays traded away from their big-league pitching depth, dealing starter Yusei Kikuchi and relievers Yimi Garcia, Nate Pearson and Trevor Richards for prospects.

And while the Blue Jays did well in those trades, acquiring young players who are well regarded both within and outside of the organization, 11 of the prospects they acquired were position players compared to only two pitchers. That's an understandable approach given that the best offers happened to include position players, but it didn't exactly stock the minors with arms.

Combine all that with the Blue Jays' recent issues signing and developing impact MLB pitchers, and it’s a clear organizational need.

“We've done a good job developing position players. I think where we've fallen short is certainly identification and development of pitching,” team president and CEO Mark Shapiro said earlier this week. “We just need to be better on the pitching side and there's a lot of energy and time being spent on that.”

Now, none of that can be reversed with one player, and clearly, the Blue Jays don’t expect Yesavage to solve their organizational pitching needs all at once. That will take time and likely some adjustments on the part of the front office and development staff.

Beyond the top of the draft, the Blue Jays can also seek the pitching they need via free agent signings, trades, waiver claims and international signings. That work started at the trade deadline with the acquisition of right-hander Jake Bloss for Kikuchi, and it will continue this off-season when a starting pitcher and multiple relievers are likely to be atop the organization’s priority list.

Of course, the best organizations also develop pitching from within, which is why the Blue Jays used their top three picks on pitching (right-hander Khal Stephen and left-hander Johnny King went in rounds two and three, respectively). As for Yesavage, his job is to work on his curveball “and maybe a cutter” while continuing to do the things he does well. 

“I'd have to call myself a great leader coming from college,” he said. “Just being there was I was a guy that people looked up to. I like to lead by example.”

“I'd say I’m very even-keeled – very clear-headed out there. I don’t like to be too high or be too low. I just go out there and be myself and trust myself.”

Sounds like an approach that will serve him well, and the ability’s clearly there too. Now, the hope is he can slowly but surely grow into that potential and help the Blue Jays to turn an organizational question mark into a clear strength.