Trey Yesavage is expected to start Monday against the Orioles, his first outing back from knee inflammation.

He's been on the IL since early August and began a rehab assignment earlier this week, per Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.

Zwelling reports Yesavage should be able to cover a few innings in his return, with swingman Spencer Miles a real option to tag-team the outing alongside him.

He threw 34 pitches in his lone rehab appearance with Triple-A Buffalo, a rough command night that still left his fastball velocity encouraging.

Injuries have limited him to 18 starts this season. A shoulder issue delayed his start to the year, and the knee injury has now cost him six weeks.

He's been genuinely effective when available, carrying a 3.65 ERA across 93.2 innings with a 23.6% strikeout rate.

Control remains the persistent issue, though. He's walking hitters at an 11.9% clip, continuing a pattern from his rookie debut, when he posted an 11.3% walk rate in the majors and 10.5% in the minors last year.

Why Sunday's plan matters just as much as Monday's start

Toronto sits on the edge of the playoff picture after dropping three of four games this week.

Two more matchups with Texas remain, a team sitting directly ahead of the Blue Jays in the wild-card race. The Rangers are 1.5 games behind the White Sox for the final spot, with Toronto 2.5 games back heading into Saturday night.

The rotation puzzle continues. Toronto has leaned on bullpen games on any day Dylan Cease, Jose Soriano, and Max Scherzer aren't starting.

Sunday's plan features Spencer Arrighetti in a bulk role, according to Zwelling, with Toronto potentially deploying a left-handed opener to counter lefties Corey Seager and Brandon Nimmo near the top of Texas's lineup.

Getting Yesavage back Monday would add a real, controllable arm right as this stretch enters its most consequential stretch.

Whether he can give Toronto multiple clean innings in his first outing back, or needs Miles to cover significant length behind him, is the immediate question for a rotation that's had to improvise all season.