Rookie Trey Yesavage to start World Series opener for Blue Jays, just his 7th big league game

TORONTO (AP) — Five weeks after his major league debut, Trey Yesavage was summoned to Toronto manager John Schneider's office, where the 22-year-old found Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker also waiting for him. After just three regular-season starts and two more in the playoffs, Yesavage was getting the ball for Friday night's World Series opener against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. "I was fired up," Yesavage recalled of Wednesday's meeting. "Got up, hugged him, hugged Pete. I was very excited." Yesavage returned to his hotel room, called his girlfriend and helped arrange a flight for her from North Carolina to attend the game, then called his parents, already set to be at Rogers Centre. His first batter will be Shohei Ohtani, the sport's best player. "The sleep last night was not easy. Mind was just racing," Yesavage said Thursday. "I found a way to get some Z's, but it was a little tough." Yesavage debuted on Sept. 15 and will become only the second pitcher to make a World Series start that raises his postseason total above his regular-season career total, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Brooklyn's Joe Black was switched from the bullpen to the rotation for two starts during the last eight days of the 1952 season by manager Chuck Dressen. Black pitched a six-hitter against the New York Yankees in the opener to become the first Black pitcher to win a World Series game, then started and lost Games 4 and 7. Selected 20th overall in last year's amateur draft from East Carolina University, Yesavage began the season at Class A Dunedin, was promoted to High-A Vancouver on May 20, then Double-A New Hampshire on June 12 and Triple-A Buffalo on Aug. 12. "You should see my truck right now. It looks like a mobile home," he said of his Toyota Tundra. "Many different stops. Now I'm changing hotel rooms every time we leave and come back, so I've had to consolidate and only bring necessities in my suitcase with me." Yesavage was 1-0 with a 3.21 ERA in three starts in September, striking out 16 in 14 innings. He beat the Yankees with 5 1/3 scoreless, hitless innings in Game 2 of the Division Series as he struck out 11, lost Game 2 of the AL Championship Series against Seattle when he allowed five runs in four innings, then won Game 6 of the ALCS on Sunday when he gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings. He is helped by an unusual arm angle of 69%, the most among right-handers in the postseason — 90% is over the top and zero is sidearm. Yesavage has thrown a splitter on 32% of his postseason pitches, and batters have missed on 23 of their 39 swings at it. He trusts catcher Alejandro Kirk to make the pitch selections. "I tried shaking him off last start, but he shook me right back off," Yesavage said. Kevin Gausman, who started the opener in the first two rounds, threw 19 pitches in relief in ALCS Game 7 on Monday, three days after he tossed 91 pitches in his Game 5 start. "We looked at all the pros and cons, talked to our medical staff, talked to these guys individually," Walker said. "I think that the biggest thing was that Trey was on normal rest and that he felt great." Schneider said he wasn't ready to announce his Game 2 starter from among Gausman, Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber. "We tried to talk to all the guys and see how they're doing physically, see what we have done historically in terms of rest, what it may look like later in the series for certain guys, and then how each one of them matches up against the Dodgers," Schneider said. "It made sense to hold Kev off for a day. Again, still kind of working through when that will be, whether it's 2 or 3." One of Yesavage's brothers picked up his stuff and truck last week and drove it to Toronto. When the World Series is over, Yesavage will go to his parent's house in Pennsylvania, then return to his apartment in North Carolina. Then he will finally spend more than a week in the same place for the first time since March.