Future Blue Jays Newsletter

I probably don’t need to tell die-hard Blue Jays fans this, but…..you witnessed history on Wednesday night.

Not only did Trey Yesavage set a record for most strikeouts for a rookie pitcher in a World Series game, or tie a record for most Series Ks in the first five innings of a game (witnessed by the man who now shares that mark, one Sanford Koufax), or strike out every hitter in the Dodger’s flailing lineup at least once, he did so after a so-so Series debut in game two.

It brought to mind Yesavage’s debut at AAA with Buffalo, the shortest outing of his pro career. Yesavage didn’t get out of the 2nd inning, allowing only a pair of earned runs, but four walks. Only 32 of his 57 pitches were strikes. Yesavage admitted that he was bad.

But, according to Bisons’ pitching coach Drew Hayes, after that rough outing, Yesavage, “came in (the next day) and owned it.” He promised to do better, and immediately went to work to put those words into action. “I saw his side work that next week,” said Hayes, “and it just progressively kept getting better.” Hayes added that it was unusual for a pitcher new to the level to take ownership of a rough outing like Yesavage’s. “(It) speaks a lot to him, his parents, his makeup, and why he’s been able to go own the biggest stage of the game.” It was at that point, Hayes said, that he knew Yesavage was going to be a big leaguer, even though it was only mid-August.

What impressed me the most beside his turnaround from the previous start against the Dodgers was how he was in command all night long. He certainly missed with the odd pitch, likely by being too amped up, but he immediately regrouped, and didn’t lose the strike zone for an inning, something I saw a fair amount this summer.

It’s worth remembering how Yesavage game to the Blue Jays in the first place. His draft stock fell from a likely top 10 slot to 20th due to a pre-draft physical. This information tends to be closely safeguarded by MLB, but I have heard from several sources that there were a few teams that didn’t like what they saw in some of the imaging of Yesavage’s pitching arm and shoulder. It’s easy to say that the teams picking from 10 to 19 just missed on Yesavage, but it goes deeper than that. He was considered one of the top two or three college pitchers in the draft, had a solid track record of success in college, and was acknowledged as a strike thrower. What it perhaps came down to for some teams was the degree of risk tolerance they were willing to take on. The Blue Jays had clearly done their homework on Yesavage - they had been following him for several years, and obviously felt his upside more than mitigated the risk; had they been picking higher in the draft, maybe that wouldn’t have been the case. But obviously the medical staff felt the roll of the dice was justified, and the events of the past month have more than proved that.

What’s interesting to think of is what if the Mariners, who had the 15th pick, had taken Yesavage. Would they have taken as aggressive an approach, and have him face the Blue Jays in the ALCS?

One last thought: if there were things in Yesavage’s imaging, is there a possibility he suffers an injury in the coming seasons? And given that flags fly forever, would Blue Jays fans care all that much?

One other tidbit comes from all the checked swings in Game Four. We know that (thankfully) the ABS challenge system, which has worked seamlessly in AAA and Low A for the past two seasons, is on its way to MLB. This past season, a new check swing challenge system was trialed in the second half of the Florida State League season. And if what one of my sources said about it is any indication, it’s not right for prime time any time soon. “The hitter has a MASSIVE (all caps his) advantage,” he told me. “It’s just not how you imagine a swing/no swing because of the angle of the knob and how far it truly has to go to reach 45 degrees.” The Hawkeye bat-tracking system was used to determine a check swing call (by either team), a swing being defined as going more than 45 degrees past the knob of the bat.

Maybe with the minor delays in the game the ABS Challenge system will create (teams get two a game, losing one for each unsuccessful challenge), fans won’t have an appetite for further time taken up by check swing challenges, but the evidence suggests we won’t be seeing it for some time anyway. The ABS challenge system itself takes less than 15 seconds. If you haven’t seen it before, I promise you’re going to like it. For me, it’s a compromise between robo umps calling balls and strikes and the human factor. It also sharpens everyone’s knowledge of the strike zone, and while it won’t eliminate the near-epidemic of pitch-framing in the game, it certainly will cut down on it. Many, many years ago when I was a catcher (when your Dad is the coach and no one else wants to don the tools of ignorance, guess where you’re going?; Luckily, my older brother coached me later, and moved me out from behind the plate to centerfield where I belonged), I saw another catcher framing pitches at a tournament. I thought it looked cool, so I tried it myself in our next game. When I did it, the umpire kindly leaned over as I presented my prized frame for all to see, and quietly said, “Son, that’s a strike, and if you do it again, it will be a strike too, so if you don’t mind, let me call the game.”

Look for me and my sons in the 500 level tonight. Let’s go Blue Jays!