Blue Jays should bet on rookie Trey Yesavage

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The Blue Jays have some decisions to finalize on Saturday morning before that first pitch of the ALDS with the New York Yankees at 4:08 p.m.

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Some will be tougher than others.

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One of those decisions that was already going to be tough —  how to utilize a prized young pitching prospect like Trey Yesavage — got that much tougher following the Yankees’ 4-0 clincher over the Red Sox on Thursday night.

In that game Cam Schlittler, a highly touted young rookie flamethrower, not unlike Yesavage, was the difference-maker, throwing eight shutout innings for the Yankees, allowing just five hits, not walking a batter and striking out 12. Statistically it was one of the top seven games thrown by a pitcher in a clinching game …. ever.

That came from a 24-year-old right-hander who was making his Major League post-season debut with just 14 games at the big-league level under his belt.

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Could the Jays find something similar in Yesavage?

Granted, Schlittler has a couple of years experience on Yesavage and twice the number of minor-league starts under his belt over the Jays’ top prospect.

But is it totally out of the question that the Jays just might roll the dice a little and put Game 2 in their young rookie’s hands?

We believe they will.

Assuming the decision has already been made to leave Bo Bichette off the roster as he battles back from injury, just how to employ Yesavage in the upcoming best-of-five series may be the toughest decision the Jays have to make.

There is a school of thought that believes Yesavage would be the perfect guy to start Game 2, particularly if Kevin Gausman does what he is fully capable of doing and gives the Jays a 1-0 lead with a win in the series opener. Yesavage would be starting at home in front of a supportive fan base. It wouldn’t be easy, by any stretch, but it wouldn’t be like throwing him to the wolves at Yankee Stadium either.

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But there is another school of thought that says the Jays would be doing the young man and the fanbase a disservice by putting him in the pressure cooker of a starting assignment for Game 2. That he and the organization would be better served using his lively arm out of the bullpen.

The Jays certainly have other starting options, just not great ones at the moment. Gausman and Shane Bieber would be the only no-doubters for the post-season rotation right now. After that you have veteran hurlers Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt, the former who struggled down the stretch and the later who is just coming off a stint from the disabled list.

Jose Berrios is on the injured list and is not expected to be on the roster.

Then there’s Eric Lauer, who started 15 games for the Jays this season and came out of the pen 13 times as a reliever.

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The debate is whether Yesavage, at just 22 and with limited experience at the major league level (just 14 innings over three starts)  is ready for the bright lights and the pressure of a post-season start.

He was drafted only a year ago last June and raced through the minors. Would it even be fair to put that kind of pressure on the young man?

Yesavage is open to whatever the team asks him to do — start, relieve or watch his teammates do the job.

He has not been told his role, nor has he asked. And he’s not letting the unknowing change his day to day.

“My work doesn’t change,” Yesavage said prior to yesterday’s workout. “I still show up to the field every single day, the same exact way. I just treat it like any other day.

“I’m just ready for anything.”

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Yesavage took in at least some of Schlittler’s performance Thursday night, although he admitted the NFL game that evening had a good chunk of his attention as well.

Yesavage saw the poise with which Schlittler handled the game. He agreed his own on-field demeanour is similar.

“Just throwing to a glove and don’t worry about things,” is how he described his on-field approach. “When I am out there on the mound I don’t hear the crowd. I don’t hear nothing. I kind of  just black out and do my job.”

He admitted the post-season might change things a little, but only initially. “Pre-game probably but when I’m out there I think I’ll just be who I am and treat it like I did this past Saturday when I pitched here (at Rogers Centre).”

Asked if he had any expectations of his first post-season experience, Yesavage became purposefully concise.

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“I do not,” he said “This is my first time around. I really don’t know what to expect. I just want to enjoy every moment I have here.”

Jays closer Jeff Hoffman made it his business when he signed with the Jays to learn about Yesavage. The two both attended East Carolina University and are represented by the same agent, and Hoffman was curious.

“When I first signed here I reached out to one of the coaches at East Carolina and kind of asked what do we have here with this kid? How do I need to talk to him? How do I need to go about getting to know him? – and stuff like that.

“’All the comments were: ‘Don’t worry about a thing with this guy,’ ” Hoffman recalls. “’He’s there to take care of his business and to keep his head down and work.’ And that’s exactly what we have seen so far.”

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Hoffman obviously won’t have a say in how the Jays utilize their top pitching prospect through this ALDS. He just hopes they do.

“I want him in the mix,” Hoffman said. “I definitely want him in the mix because he’s one of our best arms in the organization and you need all the best arms you can get this time of year.”

As for handling all that comes with a big league post-season game, Hoffman believes Yesavage has the right makeup.

“I think that is one of the things all of us noticed first,” he said. “Just his presence and demeanour. It’s pretty impressive for a kid his age.

“He’s definitely got the stuff,” Hoffman said. “So yeah, when you’re talking about a series like this and a rookie that would be able to step in and do something like that, yeah, that’s kind of who you draw up.”

The Jays will let us know at some point on Saturday who will be getting the ball for Game 2.

Don’t be shocked if it’s Trey Yesavage.

Mganter@postmedia.com

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