Blue Jays Select Two Starting Pitchers in 2024 Draft

Day 1 sees Jays opt for a pair of fast-track college arms

On Day 1 of MLB’s 2024 Draft, the Blue Jays sought to fill a glaring need for the club’s immediate future, by drafting two advanced college starting pitchers, RH Trey Yesavage (East Carolina University) and RH Khal Stephen (Mississipi St.).

Why the sense of pitching urgency? With the likelihood of Blue Jays’ current starter, LH Yusei Kikuchi being traded before the July 31 deadline, or else leaving in free agency at the end of the year and with RH Chris Bassitt earning his free-agency after the ’25 campaign, there would seem to be at least two starting pitcher spots to fill over the next two years.

Unfortunately, the Jays’ farm system at the upper levels is thin with regard to viable rotation candidates. RH Alek Manoah is out for the next 12 months. Top prospects LH Ricky Tiedemann, LH Brandon Barriera and RH Adam Macko are all injured, while others, that were expected to advance quickly through the minors, have failed to launch. Thus, in Sunday’s Draft, the Jays zigged while the rest of baseball zagged.

The first two rounds of the annual entry process were Sunday night, in Fort Worth, Texas, televised by the MLB Network, with the remainder of the 20 rounds scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. The Jays owned the 20^th pick overall and then chose 59^th in Round 2, due to nine supplemental and compensation picks between 1 and 2.

While the majority of MLB teams, early on in the draft, were looking at an impressive assembly of college position players, the Jays projected their own needs down the road, choosing two almost-ready-for-prime-time college prospects who could be projected onto the Toronto scene as early as mid-to-late 2025. Scouting director Shane Farrell was reluctant to place any timeline on the 21-year-old Yesavage, at least until they had signed him, brought him in to the training centre and then had a chance to know him better, both personally and physically.

“We feel like we got a pitcher that is advanced, comes equipped with good pitches and has a built-in workload, already,” Farrell said. “So, we’re feeling like we have a good foundation in place. Trey is a big, physical starter with three above-average pitches. He’s proven to be durable and had good workloads in his time at East Carolina. He’s shown the secondary pitchers and fastball quality and we’re happy to add him.”

The scouting report described Yesavage as featuring a high, over-the-top delivery (comp to Justin Verlander) and a four pitch repertoire, including a 4-seam fastball at 93-95 mph, a splitter that plays off of that, with a slider/cutter in the mid 80s and a curveball in the low 80s. His slot value is $4.07-million.

“I think it’s the size and physicality and his ability to pitch north and south and work at the top and bottom of the zone,” Farrell described. “The fastball has really good carry from a high release point and you have the splitter working off that and a good slider as well. He tunnels his pitches very well and has good deception. All things indicate his future as a starting pitcher.”

There was one caveat that may have affected the perception of the 21-year-old late in the college season, when Yesavage suffered a partially collapsed lung that cost him some time, but he came back late in the college year and went to-to-toe with Wake Forest and ace starter, RH Chase Burns, chosen second overall by the Reds.

“It didn’t really factor into the decision making at all,” Farrell said of the physical setback. “It’s now part of his routine and his recovery prep. He ended up missing a start and came back and pitched shortly thereafter, so no issues coming back from that.”

Even though the much-respected MLB Pipeline had Trey ranked No. 11 overall in their pre-draft projections, he had dropped down the board , likely because of that lung issue. But the Jays maintained him high on their own board.

“That’s not the word I would use, but certainly prepared,” said the Jays’ sixth-year scouting director when asked if he was surprised Yesavage was available at No. 20. “Trey is somebody we’ve liked dating back to his sophomore year, where we got to see him pitch quite a bit as an underclassman. As our pick was getting closer and he remained on the board, it was a decision that we were really happy to make.”

As for the ultra-competitive Stephen, the Jays’ second round pick, with an assigned slot-value of $1.49M, he and Yesavage are very similar, in age, height, weight and repertoire and, once they sign, are both expected to be ready to skip over Low-A, to either A+-Vancouver or AA-New Hampshire, fast-tracking towards a date in the Blue Jays rotation as they seek to reload, not rebuild, from a disappointing 2024.

Two Canadian-born selections from Day 1 of Draft

On Sunday, two Canadian-born players were selected in the first two rounds of the ’24 draft. It was back in 1993 when Canadians were first included in the draft pool, the result of some MLB teams complaining, specifically, that nobody else knew about Larry Walker when the Expos had signed him as an undrafted free-agent in 1986 and it was unfair. By that time, Walker was a star in the majors. The first Canadian ever selected in the amateur draft was high school RHP Martin Mainville, by the Expos in the second round (55th overall).

This year, 31 years later, in the first round, 27^th overall, was OF Dante Nori, born in Toronto but living now in Michigan. The high schooler’s father Micah Nori was a Raptors assistant coach when Dante was born in 2004.

Following that, in the second round, with the 58^th overall pick, the Tampa Bay Rays chose 2B Emilien Pitre, a 21-year-old from Repentigny, Quebec. Pitre was a junior at the University of Kentucky and a veteran of the Canadian Junior programs. He has drawn comparisons to 2B Edouard Julien of the Twins for his line-drive lefthanded bat and solid secondary skills.

Likely, the next Canadian off the board on Monday will be C Nathan Flewelling, another CDN Junior National team member and a native of Alberta.