LOS ANGELES (CNS) – The Dodgers will be facing the least experienced, and second-youngest, Game 1 starter in World Series history when they open the 121st Fall Classic Friday night in Toronto.
Right-hander Trey Yesavage will be the Toronto Blue Jays’ starter, manager John Schneider announced Thursday.
Game time is 5 p.m. Pacific Time, with the game broadcast on Fox and AM 570 radio in the Los Angeles area.
Yesavage will be the first pitcher to start a World Series Game 1 within his first seven career appearances, combining regular season and postseason, according to MLB.com.
He will be making his fourth postseason start Friday. No other pitcher has made multiple postseason starts within his first seven overall appearances, MLB.com reported.
At 22 years and 88 days, Yesavage will be the second-youngest Game 1 starting pitcher in World Series history, older than only Ralph Branca, who was 21 years and 267 days old when he was the losing pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers in a 5-3 loss to the New York Yankees in 1947.
Yesavage is not only a rookie in the major leagues — this is his first season in professional baseball.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, will have the same pitching rotation to start the World Series as they did to begin their sweep of the National League Championship Series — Blake Snell starting Game 1 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto starting Game 2 Saturday in Toronto, manager Dave Roberts said.
Roberts was noncommittal in a Zoom call with reporters Tuesday afternoon about his starters for Games 3 and 4, of the best-of-seven series, which will be played at Dodger Stadium.
Tyler Glasnow started Game 3 of the NLCS and Shohei Ohtani started Game 4.
The Dodgers announced Thursday that reliever Alex Vesia is “away from the team as he and his wife navigate a deeply personal family matter.”
Toronto selected Yesavage with the 20th choice in the 2024 draft after he posted a 19-2 record with a 2.58 ERA over three seasons at East Carolina.
Yesavage made his professional debut April 8, allowing two unearned runs and one hit over 3 2/3 innings in the Dunedin Blue Jays 19-5 victory over the Jupiter Hammerheads in a Class-A Florida State League game in front of a crowd announced at 327 in Jupiter, Florida.
He went 3-0 with a 2.43 ERA in seven starts with Dunedin, then received a promotion to Toronto’s Class High-A Northwest League affiliate, the Vancouver Canadians, May 20.
Yesavage went 1-0 with a 1.56 ERA in four starts with Vancouver, then was promoted to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on June 12.
He went 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in seven starts and one relief appearance with the Class-AA Eastern League team, then was promoted to the Buffalo Bisons Aug. 12.
Yesavage had no record with a 3.63 ERA in four starts and two relief appearance with the Class-AAA International League team.
The Blue Jays selected Yesavage’s contract from the Bisons on Sept. 15 and he made his major league debut that day, allowing one run on three hits and not figuring in the decision in Toronto’s 2-1 11-inning victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Tampa.
Yesavage went 1-0 with 3.21 ERA in three regular season starts, all won by the Blue Jays. He was 2-1 with a 4.20 ERA in three postseason starts, including a victory in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series Sunday, where he allowed two runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings.
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