The Toronto Blue Jays’ #2 prospect is set to join their #1 prospect on the Vancouver Canadians: Report
The fireballing righty joins shortstop Arjun Nimmala, who’s Toronto’s No. 1 prospect, on the C’s, and should pitch in Vancouver on May 27
The Vancouver Canadians already feature Toronto Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect, Arjun Nimmala. Now, apparently, the No. 2-ranked Trey Yesavage is on his way to join the Nat Bailey Stadium crew.
There’s been no official word from the C’s as of yet, but Blue Jays reporter Keegan Matheson at mlb.com writes that the Blue Jays are promoting fireballing pitcher Yesavage from the single-A Dunedin Blue Jays to high-A Vancouver, along with fellow right-handers Khal Stephen and Gage Stanifer.
Yesavage, 21, who was Toronto’s first-round pick (No. 20 overall) in last summer’s entry draft, last pitched Tuesday for Dunedin. The Blue Jays would undoubtedly want to keep him on the same routine.
The C’s are wrapping up a series with the Everett AquaSox on Sunday at the Nat. They start a six-game road set with the Eugene Emeralds on Tuesday, and then are back at the Nat for six against the Hillsboro Hops starting May 27. Yesavage would start that night, assuming he’s kept on his current schedule.
Nimmala, 19, is a right-handed hitting shortstop who was Toronto’s first-round pick (No. 20 overall) in 2023 and he has been superb so far for Vancouver, despite being one of the younger players in the Northwest League. Nimmala went into Sunday’s doubleheader against the AquaSox hitting .277, with seven home runs and 18 runs batted in, through 32 games.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Yesavage has a fastball that sits at 93-95 miles per hour and peaks at 98. The speculation all season has been that the Blue Jays would bump him up to Vancouver once the weather here started to warm up. He’s dominated through seven starts at Dunedin, striking out 55 while walking just eight in 33 and one-third innings. He’s gone 3-0 there, with a 2.43 earned run average.
Stephen, 22, is Toronto’s No. 10-ranked prospect. He was 3-0, with a 2.06 ERA, in eight appearances with Dunedin, including seven starts. Stanifer, 21, has been Dunedin’s closer. He’s 4-0, with an 0.69 earned run average and two saves in seven appearances.
MLB Pipeline has Nimmala and Yesavage in those top two positions among Blue Jays prospects. Vancouver’s leading player on MLB Pipeline’s Toronto list to finish last season was lefty Kendry Rojas, who came in at No. 12. When 2023 came to a close, righty Dahian Santos led Vancouver players on the MLB Pipeline rating of Blue Jay up and comers, slotted at No. 11.
Nimmala comes in at No. 59 and No. 71 in MLB Pipeline’s updated top-100 rankings for the entire minor leagues.
The C’s likely haven’t had prospects of this ilk since lefty Ricky Tiedemann did an eight-game turn with Vancouver in 2022. He was Toronto’s No. 6 prospect when he arrived in May. By July, he had jumped to No. 3 in the Toronto system and No. 63 in the minors. He had entered the top-100 minors list at No. 100 on May 31. He made his last start with Vancouver on July 8 and then was promoted to the double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
Vancouver has been a Toronto farm team since 2011. They moved from the short-season, single-A level to high-A when Major League Baseball rejigged the minors during the COVID-19 pandemic break in 2020.
The C’s likely haven’t had prospects of this ilk since lefty Ricky Tiedemann did an eight-game turn with Vancouver in 2022. He was Toronto’s No. 6 prospect when he arrived in May. By July, he had jumped to No. 3 in the Toronto system and No. 63 in the minors. He had entered the top-100 minors list at No. 100 on May 31. He made his last start with Vancouver on July 8 and then was promoted to the double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
Vancouver has been a Toronto farm team since 2011. They moved from the short-season, single-A level to high-A when Major League Baseball rejigged the minors during the COVID-19 pandemic break in 2020.
The C’s likely haven’t had prospects of this ilk since lefty Ricky Tiedemann did an eight-game turn with Vancouver in 2022. He was Toronto’s No. 6 prospect when he arrived in May. By July, he had jumped to No. 3 in the Toronto system and No. 63 in the minors. He had entered the top-100 minors list at No. 100 on May 31. He made his last start with Vancouver on July 8 and then was promoted to the double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
Vancouver has been a Toronto farm team since 2011. They moved from the short-season, single-A level to high-A when Major League Baseball rejigged the minors during the COVID-19 pandemic break in 2020.
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