Shoulder injury: Trey Yesavage on the injured list

For weeks, the Blue Jays kept their cards close to their chest. They said Trey Yesavage had a light workload at spring training because they wanted to limit his innings.

I don't doubt that's true… but we've just learned the main reason he's falling behind the others,

Yesterday, Kevin Gausman said on a podcast (Foul Territory) that Yesavage's arm hasn't been recovering as well as expected since the start of camp. His long 2025 season and short offseason didn't help.

But now, the Blue Jays have confirmed that a right shoulder injury will force the young pitcher to start the season on the injured list. He reported to camp with the issue, so this isn't news to management.

Trey Yesavage will begin the season on the IL with a right shoulder impingement. Yesavage reported to Blue Jays camp with the issue, which was part of the reason for his slow buildup. He's feeling better now but ran out of time to be ready for the regular season. — Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) March 19, 2026

It's important to note that he isn't seriously injured and will continue to pitch. He pitched two innings on Monday, and in about six days, he should be able to pitch two or three innings.

He just won't be ready in time for the start of the season. Rehab games will also be necessary.

Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Eric Lauer, Cody Ponce, and Max Scherzer are therefore likely to be, in that order, the team's five starting pitchers—a move that showed the team knew what it was doing by bringing in MadMax as backup.

Shane Bieber (who is improving but hasn't pitched from the mound yet) and Trey Yesavage were dealing with pain from the start of camp. Adding Scherzer was therefore necessary—more so than we thought.

Shane Bieber (forearm) continues to throw from flat ground at Blue Jays camp. John Schneider: “He's progressing well, feeling good, hitting every benchmark he needs to hit. Not putting a timeline on it, but we're looking at hopefully touching the mound here fairly soon.” — Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) March 19, 2026

The injury that changed everything for Eric Lauer (who didn't want to move to the bullpen and will see his wish come true) is Jose Berrios's. Let's be honest, that one caught the Blue Jays by surprise.

But since surprises happen, adding depth became necessary. There are tons of injuries among major league pitchers across all 30 teams.

John Schneider will manage the surplus of starters when he has one. But for now, he's one injury away from having to dip into his group of eight regulars from the start of spring training to fill out his rotation. Things can change quickly, sometimes.

Naturally, Yesavage's injury also opens up one more spot in the bullpen for Opening Day.

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