AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: MARINERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 12, 2025

Trey Yesavage

Rogers Centre

Toronto Blue Jays

Pregame 1 Press Conference

TREY YESAVAGE: I want to start off by saying something. Living in this world where there's so many different opinions and feelings which results in a lot of hate, it's sad to see that people close to me are being attacked for my performances on the field. These people have done nothing to warrant negativity for my actions, whether that's my parents, my brothers, my girlfriend, family. It's just really sad.

I know I have the platform to address it, so I am. I hope that people can realize that those individuals have nothing to do with what happens on the field or whatnot. If you have a problem, I'm a man; I can take whatever opinions anybody has about me or my life. So I just wanted to get that out there.

Q. Do you mind if I ask a follow-up question to your opening statement or would you like to move on?

TREY YESAVAGE: We can move on.

Q. Obviously, you're going to be the Game 2 starter for the Blue Jays. How does that feel as a vote of confidence? Obviously, you did great against the Yankees, but how does that feel that your manager is sticking with what's working?

TREY YESAVAGE: It's a great feeling. Being able to go out there and play for this team is special. The clubhouse is rallied behind me, and I have all the confidence in the world.

Q. We learned yesterday from John Schneider that you walking out to the bullpen at Yankee Stadium was a bit of a decoy. Just wondering if you could share your experience with that and what went into that day for you.

TREY YESAVAGE: I was told that you guys were going to find out that I was available that day, but I truly wasn't. It was just a decoy. I was told to walk out there on the field in the fourth inning, which I did.

But I thought it was funny just learning how this playoff baseball is kind of crazy (laughter) and there's a bunch of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that the average fan would have no idea about. I thought it was really cool.

Q. What was it like in the bullpen knowing that you weren't going to pitch?

TREY YESAVAGE: I would say it was a little bit more stressful than being in the dugout, just because guys in the bullpen were flying around getting hot every inning. I never heard a phone that loud in my life, the one that rings down there.

It was a little different than what I'm used to, but it was a cool experience.

Q. What was that walk like, and what were you hearing and seeing at Yankee Stadium?

TREY YESAVAGE: When I was walking down there, I was trying not to smile. I was trying to act locked in. But I mean, no one really said anything. When I got to the bullpen, I heard some people, like -- I don't even know what they were saying, but they were just chattering, yelling some random stuff, but it wasn't crazy.

Q. Just as far as all of this is concerned, you've been here a month, not even. Are you getting used to this yet? Are you able to step back and say, okay, this is what's going on? Or is this all still wild for you?

TREY YESAVAGE: It's still pretty wild. I never thought I would be here in this situation this year. Every day is something new, and I'm very blessed to be learning this in such a young career.

Q. When you think about the journey of your season, going from multiple Minor League stops to here, certainly a lot of coaches, coordinators, different people in the organization had their handprints on your success and your progress. Can you share some of the most impactful people and how they helped your journey along the course of the season?

TREY YESAVAGE: Yeah, so I started my year off in Low-A, and I didn't know how professional baseball worked, so the pitching coach there, Cory, and the manager, Gil, they were great in allowing me to kind of figure out how this works from the start, and then along the way, every pitching coach had an amazing mentality, knew how to help me where I needed help but not, like, reshape who I am as a pitcher.

All the support staff, as in strength coaches, nutritionists, trainers, across this organization, they're all phenomenal, and I give everybody in this organization a lot of credit.

Q. One follow-up: When you were a kid at home watching postseason baseball, who were your favorite players? Who were the teams you were drawn to? Was there one World Series or one ALCS that really made a big impact on your heart in terms of dreaming about being here right now?

TREY YESAVAGE: I grew up a Phillies fan, but when they won the World Series, I was five years old, so I don't really remember too much about it.

But I also grew up a big football fan, so in October there was a lot of football on in the house. I can't really pick one certain playoff team or run or whatever, but yeah, this is my favorite one so far.

Q. When you made your Low-A debut this year in Jupiter, Florida, this was not on your radar at all. Between that day and, like, last week at Yankee Stadium, was there a moment when you started to realize this could happen to you? Was there a start, an outing, a turning point, a conversation where this felt like a real possibility?

TREY YESAVAGE: Yeah, when they put me into the pen in Double-A, I knew the reason for that was to potentially come up here and throw out of the bullpen for the big league team, so that really showed me that this team has a lot of belief in me, and they want to test it out, and I'm a real option.

Q. Rather than getting in your steps walking to the bullpen in Game 4, what have you done to stay on schedule with so many days off?

TREY YESAVAGE: I've been doing my normal throwing. I was able to mix in a few more off-days from throwing as well, just with, like, the difference in schedule and the way our off-days have lined up. It's been really beneficial to get a lot of rest.

I've attempted to try to keep the same throwing schedule, lifting schedule, everything the same. I think I've done a pretty good job at that.

Q. We see Bassitt and Scherzer back on the roster. Can you talk about what those two and Kevin and José, veterans, have meant to you and advice they've given you?

TREY YESAVAGE: I mean, every single one of them has talked to me in their own way, and everyone has different messages, and they've really made this outlook on playoff baseball a lot smaller than what it is from the outside.

It's still just baseball, still a game, and I've got to go out there and treat it as such. There shouldn't be more pressure or you shouldn't be freaking out about who's in the box or whatever it is.

It's great to have those guys in this clubhouse.

Q. Trey, a follow-up to your journey response. I have Casey Candaele's version. What is your version of the moment he told you you had three options and you were getting called up?

TREY YESAVAGE: For some reason, I had a feeling I was getting called up that day. I walked into the clubhouse and I see him arranging chairs in the manager's office, and I'm like, they're about to call me in there. And sure enough, they asked me to come in there, and I kind of had an intuition what was going to happen.

But Casey sat me down, and option number one was -- this one is a little blurry in my head, but it was, like, go back to Buffalo and just wait there and see what happens with the big league team, option number two was shut down and go down to Florida, and option number three was go back to Buffalo and then drive up to Toronto that night and join the squad here before the trip to Tampa.

Obviously, I picked option number three.

Q. Last weekend was electric. I saw you also pitched on the second to last day of the regular season. That was electric. What was your feeling after Game 2, and what are you anticipating for tomorrow here at Rogers Centre?

TREY YESAVAGE: Game 2, you couldn't have drawn it up much better. Being able to go out there and the performance from the pitching staff and the offense and just being able to go out there and win and go up 2-0 in the series, it's an electric feeling, and you can feel it out there.

Heading into tomorrow, I'm just looking to -- like I was saying earlier, not put too much pressure on myself, just go out there and be who I am and be the pitcher I've always been and trust my defense, trust my catchers, trust my offense.

Q. Especially when you have a bigger gap between outings, is one of your pitches more finicky than the others in terms of keeping them sharp, and what goes into maintaining the best movement, best location with your fastball, split, and the slider?

TREY YESAVAGE: They're all pretty much the same. I'll always throw pretty much every single pitch every single day unless it's after a heavy day where I just want to get the fastball and give my forearm a break.

I do put in that work with pretty much every single pitch just about every single day.

Q. In terms of feel, which is the one that if you've got that set, the other ones work better?

TREY YESAVAGE: Definitely the heater. If that's in the zone, I know I can throw the breaking stuff off that and have them be effective.