ST. LOUIS -- Blue Jays No. 2 prospect Trey Yesavage is headed to Double-A New Hampshire after making just four starts in High-A, a source told MLB.com, building on the best story in a farm system that’s suddenly spilling over with them. The club has not confirmed the move.
Yesavage, who has climbed to No. 67 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects list, has been one of the most dominant pitchers in Minor League Baseball this season. He leads the Minors -- yes, every level -- in strikeouts with 88 in just 50 2/3 innings and has done that while limiting his walks (19).
The Blue Jays have long said that they prefer prospects to make these decisions for them, and Yesavage just keeps forcing their hand.
Double-A is where this gets exciting. Yesavage is still just 21 years old, but when the time comes, Triple-A is likelier to be a quick stopover than an extended stay. Double-A is where the magic happens for most top-end pitching prospects, where they prove that their dominance at the lower levels was legitimate and that they’re big league ready. You can do the math here.
Yesavage is already well ahead of schedule, and given that he already built up close to 100 innings in NCAA ball last year, he should be able to cruise past that comfortably. Teams monitor a million more metrics than just innings pitched, but something in the range of 120 to 140 innings seems logical here.
The Blue Jays are obviously thin at the Major League level right now, with Max Scherzer injured and Bowden Francis struggling, and while Alek Manoah’s eventual return and Adam Macko’s presence offer hope, quantity is always the best approach. The Blue Jays’ farm system is finally providing that.
Let’s put it this way. Coming into the year, any conversation about Yesavage being an option down the stretch seemed awfully far-fetched, with a mid-2026 debut feeling much likelier, even if all went according to plan. The Blue Jays remain focused on his development, which their staff and Yesavage have combined to nail through the first two months, but it’s clear that Yesavage has the talent to force that conversation later this summer if his workload allows for it.
This is a major success regardless, though, for the Blue Jays' first-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, No. 20 overall. Yesavage leaves behind No. 1 prospect Arjun Nimmala in Vancouver along with some impressive young arms, so Canadian fans still have quite the show, but Yesavage is becoming this system’s must-watch prospect.
Next in the pipeline: Johnny King
Get used to hearing King’s name. Toronto’s third-round pick from a year ago is a big, gifted lefty out of high school who immediately felt like the perfect project for this staff and their player development complex, but the internal buzz building all spring is now out there for everyone to see.
King allowed a couple of runs over 3 2/3 innings Monday, but he struck out eight and has a 1.17 ERA through five games (four starts) in the Florida Complex League. We can’t put too much stock into Complex League stats, but King, who doesn’t turn 19 until July 26, has already taken a substantial jump in terms of his stuff. He still sits No. 11 on our rankings from early 2025, but that’s not going to last. King has top-five written all over him.
King’s development still has plenty of runway left, so we're not talking about him making jumps at Yesavage’s speed here. The FCL runs until late July, so whether it’s then or a bit sooner, he should get a good test at Single-A Dunedin later this summer.
Maroudis headed back to Dunedin
Sticking near the top of the system, No. 7 prospect Landen Maroudis will make his next start back with Dunedin after finishing up some FCL rehab starts.
A year ago, Maroudis was generating a lot of the same conversations we’re now hearing about King, which are similar to the ones we heard about Ricky Tiedemann a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, like Tiedemann, elbow troubles got in the way and Maroudis underwent an internal brace procedure. But he’s back after 15 innings in the FCL, and a strong summer with the Dunedin Blue Jays would fully reestablish his foundation for 2025 and beyond.
There’s still some work to be done to get Maroudis back to where he was, but he represents legitimate upside. It’s something this system lacked before, but in 2025, the Blue Jays seem to be making up for lost time.