Nearly 40 days ago, Trey Yesavage was pitching in obscurity.
Friday night, he’ll take the mound in Game 1 of the World Series.
Let that sink in.
From Low-A Dunedin in April to the biggest spotlight in October — the 22-year-old from Pottstown, Pennsylvania, will start the Fall Classic for the Toronto Blue Jays against the defending-champion Dodgers. A rookie with three big-league starts. A name the baseball world barely knew a month ago.
He’ll become the first rookie to open a World Series since Justin Verlander and Anthony Reyes both did it back in 2006 — and the first local arm to start Game 1 since West Chester’s Jon Matlack did it for the Mets in 1973. That’s 52 years between Pennsylvania kids trusted with the first pitch of a World Series. Matlack lost that one, though both runs were unearned. Yesavage would like to rewrite the ending.
He’s the definition of a rocket rise: drafted out of East Carolina just 16 months ago, sent to four levels in four months — Dunedin, Vancouver, New Hampshire, Buffalo — before debuting in September. Now, four postseason starts later, he’s pitching for a nation.
“Pretty much called me into his office, said they had faith in me to run me out there in the first game,” Yesavage said Thursday. “I was fired up. Got up, hugged him, hugged Pete. I was very excited.”
That’s the kind of understatement only a rookie can pull off before facing Shohei Ohtani.
His dad, Dave Yesavage, was already on the road north when he got the call.
“We are so excited for him,” he told The Review exclusively on Thursday. “Still can’t believe it’s real. I know he’s looking forward to the challenge of pitching to a great team. This experience really brings back the memories of all his hard work.”
The Yesavages are driving nearly 400 miles from Pottstown to Toronto — same highways that once carried Little League dreams and bus-league grit. Now, those roads lead straight to the World Series.
Yesavage knows the math — he’s made three regular-season starts, four in October. He’s not supposed to be here. He doesn’t care.
“I’m pretty meat-and-potatoes with it,” he said. “I don’t want to be out there thinking too much. I’m at my best when I’m just blacked out out there and not thinking at all.”
That’s the kid from Montgomery County talking — no frills, no fear. The one who drove a Toyota Tundra from town to town chasing a dream. The one who once pitched under the lights at Bear Stadium, wondering if anyone would ever see him beyond Route 100.
Now the baseball world will.
Because every so often, October gives us a story that feels impossible — until it isn’t.
A rookie who sprinted through four leagues in one summer.
A local kid who carried a town’s pride north of the border.
A name that sounds like a dream — Yesavage — suddenly written across the World Series marquee.
Fifty-two years after Matlack, the Philly region is represented on the mound again in Game 1 of the World Series.
And the kid from Boyertown is ready to make it count.
That’s the kind of understatement only a rookie can pull off before facing Shohei Ohtani.
His dad, Dave Yesavage, was already on the road north when he got the call.
“We are so excited for him,” he told The Review exclusively on Thursday. “Still can’t believe it’s real. I know he’s looking forward to the challenge of pitching to a great team. This experience really brings back the memories of all his hard work.”
The Yesavages are driving nearly 400 miles from Pottstown to Toronto — same highways that once carried Little League dreams and bus-league grit. Now, those roads lead straight to the World Series.
Yesavage knows the math — he’s made three regular-season starts, four in October. He’s not supposed to be here. He doesn’t care.
“I’m pretty meat-and-potatoes with it,” he said. “I don’t want to be out there thinking too much. I’m at my best when I’m just blacked out out there and not thinking at all.”
That’s the kid from Montgomery County talking — no frills, no fear. The one who drove a Toyota Tundra from town to town chasing a dream. The one who once pitched under the lights at Bear Stadium, wondering if anyone would ever see him beyond Route 100.
Now the baseball world will.
Because every so often, October gives us a story that feels impossible — until it isn’t.
A rookie who sprinted through four leagues in one summer.
A local kid who carried a town’s pride north of the border.
A name that sounds like a dream — Yesavage — suddenly written across the World Series marquee.
Fifty-two years after Matlack, the Philly region is represented on the mound again in Game 1 of the World Series.
And the kid from Boyertown is ready to make it count.
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