Blue Jays' Trey Yesavage, once an AL Rookie of the Year favorite, lands on 15-day IL with knee inflammation
Trey Yesavage, who began the season on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement, landed on the 15-day IL on Wednesday, this time because of left knee inflammation that cut his Tuesday start short in Houston.
He was removed after two scoreless innings during what ended up being a 7-2 loss to the Astros.
"Trey felt a little pinch there in his left knee on his first couple of warmup pitches in the third," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, per MLB.com, after Toronto's latest setback, a defeat that dropped last year's AL champions to 53-61.
"He said he was OK, but we're not taking any chances."
The issue reportedly stemmed from Yesavage landing awkwardly on his lead leg and his left knee buckling.
MRI results indicated the inflammation the 23-year-old righty is dealing with, hence Wednesday's news. In corresponding moves, the Blue Jays recalled and activated right-handed pitchers Lazaro Estrada and Chase Lee from Triple-A Buffalo, in addition to optioning fellow righty Chad Dallas to the Bisons.
Dallas relieved Yesavage on Tuesday, except, over three innings of work, he gave up six of the Astros' seven runs.
Having dealt for José Soriano and Jameson Taillon, the Blue Jays emerged from trade deadline built to attack the final act of the regular season with a six-man rotation. But now Toronto is back down to a standard, five-man crew of regular starters.
That group consists of Dylan Cease, Soriano, Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber and Taillon.
The Blue Jays have been snakebitten by injuries all season. Yesavage entered 2026 as an AL Rookie of the Year favorite. Even though the 2024 first-round pick made his MLB debut last year, just in time to help Toronto make its first World Series appearance in 32 years, this season is technically his rookie campaign.
He was already a household name, considering he piled up 27 2/3 innings in the postseason, making five playoff starts and three total appearances in the World Series. That stretch featured a seven-inning masterpiece against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series.
This year, Yesavage has registered 18 regular-season starts, posting a 3.65 ERA along the way. His new injury, though, will limit how much more action he sees this season, particularly if Toronto doesn't make a convincing playoff push.
