Trey Yesavage exits start with knee discomfort

Yesavage appeared to injure his left knee on a warmup pitch prior to the third inning and was immediately lifted from the contest. The 23-year-old departed after firing a pair of scoreless frames. It would be a colossal loss for the Blue Jays, and fantasy managers as well, if he were to miss any time over the final two months. There should be an update on his status shortly.

Yesavage struck out four, walked three, and allowed three hits. He lowered his ERA to 3.73 with a strong outing against the highest-scoring lineup in MLB. The 23-year-old set an impossibly high bar with his October performance a season ago, but he’s held his own despite a limited minor-league track record. One concern is that he has four starts with five or more walks this season. Cutting those down is the key to a breakout over the final two months or in 2027. He’ll draw the Astros in Houston next time out.

The runs came on a homer in the first and a single and a homer in the third. Yesavage allowed just two other hits and walked one, but he needed 93 pitches to get his 12 outs, resulting in the early exit. It’s the second straight start in which Yesavage has struck out nine. He hasn’t won any of his four starts this month, but he doesn’t seem far off. He’ll face the Nationals next.

The right-hander racked up nine strikeouts on the afternoon while issuing a pair of walks. The White Sox scratched out a single run against him on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, then added on a pair in the sixth inning including a solo blast from Colson Montgomery. Yesavage generated a whopping 21 swings and misses on 95 pitches on the day — 12 of those on his fastball — while posting an elite CSW of 40 percent. He’ll try to get back in the win column as he carries a 3.78 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and a 78/41 K/BB ratio (81 innings) into Friday’s matchup against the Red Sox in Boston.

If you like games that feature pitchers throwing strikes — also known as a ‘normal human being’ in some parts — this one wasn’t for you. Toronto and San Diego combined for a whopping 17 free passes in this one, and Yesavage was responsible for relatively close to half of those walks. Four of them came in the first inning, including three to begin the outing and a bases-loaded base on balls a batter later. He threw just 20 of his 59 pitches for strikes, and he issued just one strikeout. Yesavage had solid prior to Saturday, so the hope is that this is just a one-off for the 22-year-old.

The unearned run was a product of Ernie Clement committing an error prior to Mitch Garver’s two-run homer in the third. Yesavage racked up seven strikeouts, his second highest total of the year. He allowed just three hits. He still hasn’t surrendered more than five hits in any outing this year, and he’s given up a total of eight in 18 1/3 innings over his last three outings. He’s 4-4 with a 3.31 ERA, and he’ll finish off the first half with a start in San Diego next weekend.

Yesavage fanned three. He gave up 11 hard-hit balls, including six flyballs in excess of 339 feet, but only three hits. The lone one that mattered was Francisco Lindor’s homer to lead off the seventh. Yesavage improved to 4-3 with a 3.34 ERA. He’s due to make his next start Sunday in Seattle.

Yesavage walked five and struck out five. He didn’t walk anyone against Boston last time out, but he’s handed out 20 free passes over 28 2/3 innings in his last five starts. He’s not getting hit hard, so even if it’s not ideal, he can get away with two or three walks a night. However, issuing five walks, which he’s now done three times, is making things pretty hard on himself. He’ll face the Mets next week.

Yesavage took a 3-1 lead into the eighth, only to give up back-to-back homers to Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Caleb Durbin to start the inning. As sharp as he was through seven, one imagines he still would have been lifted from the game prior to the eighth if the Jays hadn’t used all three of their top relievers to secure wins on Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving them unavailable today. It doesn’t seem like a major cause for concern, but Yesavage has now given up five homers in three starts after allowing none in his first seven outings. He’ll take a 3.76 ERA into his next start at home against the Astros.

It took a few innings, but Yesavage’s inability to challenge the Yankees’ hitters in the zone finally came back to bite him. He walked four hitters over the first four innings without allowing a run, mostly because he practically refused to throw a pitch in the zone. So, he was never squared up and got the chases necessary to end the threats that he created. Then, it came crashing down in the fifth after a double, another walk, sacrifice fly, and home run by Cody Bellinger. He ran into trouble again to start the sixth, was pulled, and both inherited runners came around to score. This makes three out of four starts where he’s allowed at least five runs and now has a 3.87 ERA, 47 strikeouts, and 25 walks across 47 2/3 innings so far this season. He’s scheduled to face the Red Sox in Fenway Park next time out.