From class-A Dunedin to Game 5 of the World Series, Trey Yesavage continues to add to his storybook 2025.
Making his fifth start of this post-season for the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 22-year-old right-hander made playoff history yet again.
By striking out 12 Dodgers, Yesavage broke the record for most strikeouts by a rookie in a World Series game, besting Don Newcombe’s 11 punchouts in Game 1 of the 1949 Fall Classic.
Yesavage put his name in history by setting down Freddie Freeman with a splitter in the seventh.
It wasn’t the only record that fell on Wednesday, however.
With his seventh strikeout of the game and 34th of these playoffs, Yesavage broke the MLB record for punchouts in a single post-season by a rookie, surpassing the previous mark held by St. Louis Cardinals righty Michael Wacha.
For good measure, Yesavage simply continued to build on that mark.
Yesavage got off to a hot start in Game 5, retiring the first seven batters of the contest, which included five straight strikeouts — a record streak by a rookie hurler in the World Series.
The Dodgers got to him for the first time on Wednesday in the third, when Kiké Hernández launched a solo shot off Yesavage to end his perfect stretch to open the night.
After admitting that he couldn’t find his trademark splitter in Game 1 of the Fall Classic, throwing the pitch just 10 times, Yesavage clearly had the offering working on Wednesday. In the early going of Game 5, he frequently used the pitch against Los Angeles’ left-handed batters.
Yesavage announced his presence in these playoffs with 11 strikeouts over 5.1 no-hit innings against the New York Yankees in the ALDS, setting a Blue Jays single-post-season game record.
Combining that effort with Wednesday’s, Yesavage became the first rookie with multiple 10-strikeout games in a single post-season.
