Trey Yesavage nears return with Friday sim game

That's the update Toronto needed most. Yesavage is set to throw around 3 innings and 45 pitches, which makes this less about talk and more about build-up finally showing up on the mound.

For a club that opened camp trying to protect his workload, this is the first checkpoint that feels tied to a return path instead of simple maintenance. Y

esavage reported with a right shoulder impingement, and the Blue Jays slow-played him from the start.

That caution wasn't random. Yesavage is 22, and Toronto already had a template after pushing him from Single-A Dunedin to the World Series last season while keeping his total at 139 2/3 innings.

The Friday number matters, too. Three innings and 45 pitches fit the way the Blue Jays handled him through much of 2025, when shorter outings and controlled counts kept his stuff sharp and his season alive deep into October.

The clip of this update felt steady, not dramatic. It was a clean rehab board, one line after another, with Yesavage sitting at the top because his next step carries the most weight for Toronto's rotation.

That's where this update separates itself from the others. José Berrios is throwing a bullpen tomorrow and a live BP on Saturday, which is progress, but his case still traces back to a stress fracture in his right elbow.

Yimi Garcia throwing a bullpen tomorrow is good news for the bullpen card, and Shane Bieber getting back on a mound Saturday is another box checked after his forearm fatigue.

Still, neither item shifts Toronto's bigger picture the way Yesavage does.

That's because Yesavage isn't just depth anymore. He entered this season as Toronto's No. 1 prospect, and the club already showed last year that it trusts him in meaningful spots, not just development innings.

Schneider's job now is balancing urgency with restraint.

A good sim game on Friday won't erase the injury, and it won't put Yesavage straight into a full starter's workload. It does move him into the part of rehab where return questions start sounding real.

That's why this update lands differently in the clubhouse. Berrios, Garcia and Bieber all matter, but Yesavage gives the Blue Jays something tougher to replace: a young arm with upside the rotation can still dream on.

Friday won't settle the whole thing.

But if Yesavage gets through those 45 pitches clean, Toronto's most important pitching update suddenly turns into a chase toward games that count.

This is huge for the Blue Jays are their starting rotation is already on fire but having Yesavage back will only help.