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Yankees ‘didn’t have an answer’ for Trey Yesavage’s unicorn splitter in historic playoff debut

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Making just his fourth career major league start during Game 2 of the ALDS, rookie phenom Trey Yesavage proved he’s exactly where he belongs on Sunday, dominating one of the sport’s best offences from the regular season.

Across the 2025 season, the New York Yankees’ bats led the majors in home runs (274), RBIs (820), SLG (.455), ISO (.204) and wRC+ (119) — an offence headlined by one of this generation’s most explosive hitters, Aaron Judge, who’s expected to capture his third MVP trophy this fall. But none of that mattered as Yesavage took the hill in front of another electric home crowd at Rogers Centre.

It was pure dominance from start to finish. There was no stopping the 22-year-old as he carved through the Bronx Bomber-less offence, no-hitting them over 5.1 shutout innings to become the youngest pitcher in MLB history to accomplish that feat in a post-season start.

Not to mention, Yesavage also set a Blue Jays franchise record in strikeouts, punching out 11 batters in Game 2 — one shy of matching his career-high in professional ball, set during his final single-A start on May 13. No one could’ve imagined we’d be here all those months ago. Just when you thought this season couldn’t feel more special than it already has.

Yesavage set the tone early in this outing, and it all started with his well-executed fastball. That helped set up his one-of-a-kind splitter, which induced 11 whiffs on 16 swings (69 per cent) and a 64 per cent chase rate.

Because of the right-hander’s extreme over-the-top delivery, few, if any, have ever faced stuff like his before. Not only did that make him unpredictable, but it also made him unhittable against the Yankees’ lacklustre lineup.

“That was nasty stuff. That split is unlike much you ever run into,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters, including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, of Yesavage’s no-hit performance. “We just didn’t have an answer for the split. He was on his game.”

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The Blue Jays were hedging their bets on unfamiliarity with tabbing Yesavage as their Game 2 starter, a worthwhile gamble that has now provided this franchise with a 2-0 series lead, needing just one final win to punch their ticket to the ALCS for the first time since 2016.

Toronto’s brass could’ve decided to have him start on the road, but they wanted to put their rising star in the best possible position to succeed — and that’s precisely what they did. Had he pitched in the Bronx, New York’s hitters would’ve had additional preparation time to study video and sequencing tendencies before squaring off against him. They also would’ve had the luxury of using their Trajekt pitching machine — which remains at home for all 30 clubs — to analyze his unique arm angle further.

At Rogers Centre, though, all they had to go off were spreadsheets, video clips, and real-life experience in the batter’s box — none of which provided any solutions to solving Yesavage.

“You can [still] prepare pretty well. I mean, there’s a lot of information, a lot of video,” Boone said. “But then there’s no substitute for experiencing someone too. The fact that he is a bit unique, I’m sure played into a little bit of his effectiveness.”

Things couldn’t have played out any better for Yesavage and the Blue Jays in Round 1 against the Yankees, and they made sure he still had an extra bit of fuel left in the tank for a potential rematch later in the series.

Last year’s 20th-overall draft selection only needed 78 pitches to record the first 16 outs of Game 2 — with nearly two-thirds coming via strikeout. That’s why nobody was pleased when manager John Schneider arose from the home dugout to hand things over to the bullpen, sparking a loud outcry of boos to rain down.

“It’s happened a lot, but that was the best,” Schneider said. “I was kind of joking with [Kevin] Gausman, Max [Scherzer], Biebs [Shane Bieber] and [pitching coach] Pete Walker like, ‘Wish me luck, I’m going out there.’ That was special for him to kind of have that moment.”

For all the times that Schneider’s been booed in his career, this was, by far, his favourite. With his club leading 12-0 at the time, the Blue Jays’ skipper wanted to ensure Yesavage had the opportunity to depart to a standing ovation for his historic post-season debut.

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There was also likely an ulterior motive at play, too. Despite Toronto’s current stranglehold on New York, there’s still a chance this series is far from finished. So, with the top of the Yankees’ order coming around for a third time, the coaching staff decided it’d be best to limit Yesavage’s exposure to them in case he’s needed out of the bullpen in a winner-take-all Game 5.

Who knows if that’ll even be necessary at this point. The Blue Jays are in the driver’s seat to complete a three-game sweep with Shane Bieber starting Tuesday. But they should have a full complement of weapons at their disposal if this series winds up returning to Toronto, including Gausman and Yesavage — two of the club’s top pitching performers in the ALDS thus far.