Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Trey Yesavage was one of the biggest stories of the final month of the regular season and the playoffs last year.

Yesavage was picked by the Blue Jays in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of East Carolina and was a quick-riser through the organization's farm system.

Yesavage made his major league debut just over a year after he was drafted Sept. 15. He made three starts in September and posted a 3.21 ERA and struck out 16 batters in 14 innings pitched.

Toronto made the bold but fruitful decision to keep Yesavage on the starting rotation through the playoffs.

During the Blue Jays' playoff run, which saw the team win its first American League pennant since 1993, Yesavage had a 3.58 ERA and fanned 39 hitters in 27.2 innings pitched across six outings (five starts).

Trey Yesavage, Dehelmeting Splitter. ✌️

6th K thru 3 pic.twitter.com/l7jU61LSJO

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 30, 2025

Throughout Yesavage's brief tenure in the major leagues, his most notable and well-discussed weapon was his splitter. In the regular season, he allowed an opposing batting average of .111 and a put-away rate of 30.3%, according to Baseball Savant.

For the two other pitches in Yesavage's arsenal (four-seam fastball, slider), opponents didn't hit lower than .286 and he didn't have a put-away above 19%.

Apparently, Yesavage's splitter has also drawn the attention of his peers.

In a recent appearance on the Foul Territory podcast, St. Louis Cardinals left-handed pitcher Matthew Liberatore, who'll be a candidate to start for the team on Opening Day, talked about implementing a new slider that he had the idea for by watching Yesavage.

"The guy that kind of spurred the decision to start working on (the splitter) was watching Trey Yesavage's splitter," Liberatore said on the podcast. "(He has a) super-steep approach-angle and I'm not quite that steep but I do have a relatively steep approach-angle and we figured if that was a pitch I could feel comfortable with, it could play really well for me."

Matthew Liberatore's splitter, brought to you in part by Trey Yesavage. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/67kluYef0Z

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) March 2, 2026

Liberatore has more major league experience than Yesavage. The former made his major league debut in 2018. However, Liberatore has limited experience as a starting pitcher. The Cardinals transitioned him from the bullpen to the starting rotation in 2025. The southpaw made 29 starts in his first year on the rotation.

Yesavage is still technically listed as a "prospect" according to most top 100 lists. But it seems that his impact, both on his own team and around league circles, already exceeds that moniker.

Yesavage is currently projected to be the No. 3 pitcher on Toronto's major league starting rotation, according to FanGraphs.

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