Toronto Blue Jays' right-hander Trey Yesavage faltered in his rehab start for Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday afternoon, but he's still likely to return to the big league rotation for his season debut in his next outing.

Per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet:

Blue Jays manager John Schneider watched Trey Yesavage's rehab start at triple-A Buffalo, in which the righty allowed four 4 R/2 ER, on 2 H and 4 BB with 2 Ks in 2.1 IP.

Yesavage averaged 94.3 m.p.h. with his fastball, was up to 95.8, and felt fine physically after.

Yesavage threw only 64 pitches in this outing, departing with the bases loaded in the third inning. He only tossed 37 of those pitches for strikes. Certainly the control was sub-optimal, but the most important part is how Yesavage felt as he works back from a right shoulder impingement.

A first-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2024, Yesavage shot through the minors in 2025, appearing in the big leagues in September and October. The 22-year-old Pennsylvania native went 1-0 in three starts down the stretch and then won games in the American League Division Series, American League Championship Series and World Series. His performance in Game 6 of the ALCS against Seattle saved Toronto's season, and his 12-strikeout win in Game 5 of the World Series against the Dodgers was lights out as well.

Because of his late debut in 2025, he is still ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the organization, but he'll quickly fall off once he gets back into action. He's currently listed as the No. 9 prospect in the sport by MLB Pipeline. 

While the team certainly didn't want to see him hurt, ever, having him start his season later and get a smaller workload is likely a good thing in the long run. It will keep him fresher later in the season, and though the Jays are out to a slow start at 10-13, they have aspirations of playing late into October again, meaning they'll want Yesavage available for playoff innings.

Like all parts of the Toronto roster, the starting rotation has been gutted by injury so far. Shane Bieber and Jose Berrios have also yet to pitch, and Cody Ponce is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

Patrick Corbin has filled in admirably, but it's possible he's replaced when Yesavage returns. There's also a chance that Eric Lauer could go back to the bullpen, which would allow Corbin to stick in the rotation.

The Blue Jays will play the Angels again on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is 3:07 p.m. ET.

Remember to join our BLUE JAYS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Blue Jays fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!