PHOENIX — Trey Yesavage’s dream season took a scary turn in late May when he suddenly started experiencing chest discomfort and couldn’t catch his breath.
It turned out to be a partially collapsed lung, most likely caused by an accident during a dry needling session. Yesavage missed the AAC tournament while recovering but returned to the mound in time for the NCAA Regionals, where he out-dueled No. 2 pick Chase Burns of Wake Forest in what ultimately should be his final start for East Carolina.
Yesavage could have played it safe and sat out the Regional after the lung scare, but it was important for him to take the ball against that talented Wake Forest squad that entered the year ranked No. 1 in the country.
“I wanted to pitch in the Regional in front of our fans, but I also know that the guys look up to me and we just hit a different gear when I’m on the mound,” Yesavage said last month at the MLB Draft Combine. “So I knew it was in the best interest of the team for me to get back on that mound.”
The win over the Demon Deacons was an emphatic ending to a season in which Yesavage dominated, going 11-1 with a 2.03 ERA and a 145:32 K:BB in 93 1/3 innings. In the process, he vaulted up the MLB Draft prospect rankings and will now have the opportunity to go pro after being drafted No. 20 by the Toronto Blue Jays.
Yesavage began his career at East Carolina as a reliever and moved into the rotation last season. He put up good numbers in 2023 — a 2.61 ERA and a 105:23 K:BB — but he battled arm fatigue and inflammation at various points during the season. He spent the offseason working hard in the weight room to be better equipped to make it through a full, healthy season as a starter. He also got a better feel for his offspeed pitches, something that carried over into the regular season.
“It all meshed together and really worked out for me this season,” Yesavage said.
Of all the college pitchers in the 2024 class, the right-hander may be the closest to major-league ready, according to The Athletic’s Keith Law. Yesavage has heard that prediction and welcomes the pressure that comes with those expectations.
“It’d be amazing,” he said of possibly being the first in his class to reach the big leagues. “All the work that I’ve put in to reach that goal (of making the big leagues) one day, and say I am the fastest guy in our draft class to get there, which I think isn’t an unreasonable statement, especially on the pitcher side of things, it would be special to be able to play with the guys I grew up watching.”
Trey Day did not disappoint!
All 12 of @treyyesavage‘s strikeouts for your viewing pleasure ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/OSN1QzOQ4p
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball) April 27, 2024
Yesavage has a four-pitch mix — a four-seam fastball that can touch 98 and sits in the mid-90s, a breaking ball that he calls a cutter but says acts more like a slider, a split-finger fastball and a curveball. He has a starter’s frame at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds and was injury-free this season, with the exception of the freak lung injury.
What’s most striking about Yesavage is his throwing motion, which Law describes as “a super-short arm action” most often seen with relievers. Yesavage says he’s always had a short arm action, though he says it’s even shorter now than where it was in high school. He commands the ball well with it regardless. Hitters don’t see the ball well out of his hand; he allowed just 49 hits in 93 1/3 innings this season, and only four of those were home runs in a year where homers were up throughout college baseball.
Growing up in Boyertown, Penn., Yesavage was a big Phillies fan, but it wasn’t Zack Wheeler or even Roy Halladay who he grew up idolizing. It was slugging first baseman Ryan Howard.
“I liked hitting more than pitching when I was younger,” he said, noting that when he got to high school he realized that “this hitting stuff is kind of hard.”
“I still hit in high school but as soon as I got to East Carolina, I was like, ‘Thank goodness I’m putting the batting gloves and the bat down,’” he said with a laugh.
Yesavage credits the staff at East Carolina for helping him mature on and off the field. He says the tweaks he made to his mechanics helped him improve his command enough to make the successful jump from reliever to starter. He took a little break from throwing after his college season ended but planned to start ramping back up again shortly before the draft. Now, we’ll get to see just how quickly he can get to the big leagues.
(Photo: Ben McKeown / Associated Press)
