How Trey Savage put the Blue Jays on the cusp of a World Series title
LOS ANGELES — In the moments leading up to Game 5 of the World Series, Trey Yesavage was on fire. Warming up in the visitors’ bullpen in right field at Dodger Stadium, surrounded by Los Angeles Dodgers fans on both sides, the 22-year-old Toronto Blue Jays rookie right fielder weathered indignities of all kinds and varieties. At some point, Savage took a breath, walked off the mound and headed to pitching coach Pete Walker.
“This is fun,” Yesavage said. “I like this.”
Of all the improbable events amid the Blue Jays’ march to the cusp of their first championship in more than 30 years, none rival the emergence of Yesavage. His first game of the season came in April in Jupiter, Florida for the Single-A Dunedin team. There were 327 fans in the stadium. His latest, Wednesday night, was a seven-inning, no-walk, 12-strikeout masterpiece that propelled the Blue Jays to a 6-1 victory and sent them back to Toronto one win shy of the World Series title. It was a performance that silenced the enthusiastic crowd in right field and the rest of the 52,175 who watched an unprecedented pitching performance from the pitcher in his eighth major league game.
Facing a lineup that included three future Hall of Famers, and in front of a crowd that understood the desperation Los Angeles would face with a Game 5 loss, Yesavage destroyed the Dodgers time and time again. They swung and missed 23 times, when his splitter, breakout slider and carrying fastball were gone. When they did call, it was often weak; A solo home run from Kiké Hernández was the only run. Yesavage carved them like pumpkins, which is appropriate considering the Blue Jays will be trying to secure their first championship since 1993 on Halloween.
That’s partly because the kid who was selected with the 20th pick in last year’s draft went from Single-A to High-A to Double-A to Triple-A to the major leagues, with everyone around him understanding almost immediately how he made that ascension. Yesavage’s actions are bad, sure, but his demeanor—a country boy who sees the big city as just another thing to be conquered—exudes calm and confidence without an ounce of arrogance.
After Toronto’s Game 5 win, in which Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. staked a home run on pitches one and three with a lead they wouldn’t surrender, Chris Bassett and Shane Bieber, who together had more than 2,000 major league innings and 359 major league plate appearances, sat next to each other in the clubhouse and simply marveled. They’ve known Yesavage for six weeks, and each outing — whether it was shutting out Tampa Bay in his debut or throwing 5⅓ hitless innings with 11 strikeouts against the Yankees in his postseason debut — reinforces what they found most impressive about him.
“How he was able to make Game 5 of the World Series look like any other day mentally,” Bassett said. “It could have been May. You can’t tell. He’s just calm, he has complete belief in himself.”
“It would be easy to say ignorance is bliss, but I don’t think so,” Bieber said. “It’s a complete belief in himself and his game plan and his stuff. When he’s got it, he’s got it. Look in his eyes. He’s got it.”
Bassett continued.
“When he turns on his splitter, I think he realizes the other team doesn’t have a chance,” he said. “Because no one could figure it out. Early on, when the split started, it was like: Buckle up, because you guys are going to be in trouble.”
The issue doesn’t fully describe the Dodgers’ futility against Yesavage in Game 5. In Game 1, he operated without any control of his splitter, leaving him navigating Los Angeles’ lineup handicapped. Between his bullpen session this week and playing on Tuesday, Yesavage said he found his clutch grip and entered Wednesday believing in it. He was up at 8:30 a.m., called his girlfriend, ate an egg sandwich and two sausages for breakfast with his parents and brother, showered and relaxed on the outdoor patio of his hotel room with his family. He headed to the field ready to perform the match.
Once there, he made history, striking out more batters than any previous World Series starter.
“I saw something on Instagram where someone took a video of me on my phone saying I was locked out, but I was just scrolling through TikTok and Instagram clips. I keep it as quiet as possible. I don’t change anything I tell myself, but I’m also just here to go to work. I try not to think about anything,” Yesavage said.
With his head clear of worry, and his arm full of energy, Yesavage stood on top of the mound opposite two-time Cy Young champion Blake Snell and beat him out. Yesavage felt comfortable in the first half. After the side was written off in the second, good things developed into great levels. From there, every pitch was a castration attempt — fastballs in the zone from the highest arm slot in the major leagues, splitters and sliders in the bottom half that teased and tempted hitters to swing even when they knew they shouldn’t. Yesavage stalks hitters as if they were prey, a quality that endeared him to one of the Blue Jays’ rookie veterans.
“When they pulled him after 78 pitches in the Yankees’ first start, I said to myself, ‘Would you have gone back out there and overcome that?'” Max Scherzer said. He said: No, I’m trying to fire everyone.
Scherzer smiled.
“I know exactly what he’s talking about,” said Scherzer, who has played in 3,489 career games. “You start smelling it. You start smelling it, and this is how I’m going to get you. I’m here to hit you.”
Yesavage’s olfactory glands were in overdrive on Wednesday. He hit every Dodgers player — getting the No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters, Will Smith, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, to two runs each. Yesavage’s girlfriend, Taylor Fricke, sent him photos throughout the game crying happy tears. Scherzer, obsessive as ever, celebrated a double play by placing sunflower seeds on the dugout wall. After a performance like this, in a very big moment, a big display of emotion is more than acceptable.
Meanwhile, Yesavage remained a cool choice. It makes it easy to sometimes forget how new this all is. He and Bieber were recently talking about introducing Yesavage to some fancy liquor to enjoy the spoils of the big tournament.
“Do you like tequila?” Pepper said.
“I’m 22 years old,” Yesavage said.
Pepper laughed.
“You were just in college, weren’t you?” He said.
He was at East Carolina, pitching in big games in front of big crowds at North Carolina State and North Carolina State. But there was no such thing. Dodgers fans are known for their right-field rage, being relentless, nasty and boundary-breaking, all part of the experience. Yesavage, who led their team in the first game, took the full series.
“If I was a Dodgers fan, I’d try to annoy him, too,” Bassett said. “Given the fact that he’s 22 years old. Given the fact that he’s barely been on the road. Given the fact that this is the World Series. I’d love to talk s—. But the truth is, I don’t think a lot of people realize that it doesn’t bother him. He’s like, ‘Just wait until I get to the mound. I’ll show you.’
He showed them all the truth. Across 104 pitches, each one placing the weight of a nation on his shoulders, he showed his pregame sentiment for something bigger and better.
This was fun. And he had every reason to love him.