Report: Blue Jays promote Yesavage, Stephen, Stanifer to high-A Vancouver
The Toronto Blue Jays are moving a group of their top-performing prospects to the next level.
The Toronto Blue Jays are moving a group of their top-performing prospects to the next level.
Toronto’s 2024 first- and second-round picks, Trey Yesavage and Khal Stephen, are being promoted to the high-A Vancouver Canadians, alongside breakout right-hander Gage Stanifer, according to Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith.
The news was first reported by MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson.
All three of Yesavage, Stephen and Stanifer have been dominating with class-A Dunedin to open 2025.
Yesavage, the 20th-overall pick in last summer’s draft out of East Carolina, racked up 55 strikeouts over seven starts and 33.1 innings with Dunedin to begin his pro career. He also posted a 2.43 ERA while only issuing eight walks and holding opposing hitters to a .162 average. The 21-year-old right-hander was recently ranked as the No. 71 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline in light of his excellent start to the year.
In his most recent start, Yesavage struck out a career-best 12 batters over five innings of work.
Matheson reported that Toronto’s choice to start Yesavage in Dunedin was for him to build up routines in better and more predictable weather.
Stephen, meanwhile, impressed through his first eight career outings, working 39.1 innings with a 2.06 ERA. He struck out 48 hitters and issued just seven walks. Toronto selected the 22-year-old out of Mississippi State in 2024. On Thursday, Stephen was used out of the bullpen, working four innings in relief on his way to his first professional save.
A 19th-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2022, Stanifer has been one of the surprise developments for Toronto’s farm system this season. The six-foot-three righty had been perhaps the best arm on Dunedin’s stacked pitching staff, pitching to a 0.69 ERA over 26 innings with 38 strikeouts. Stanifer was holding opposing hitters to a .112 average and had yet to allow a home run this season.
Stanifer and Yesavge had worked as a tandem all season, with the former entering in relief to commonly cover all nine innings.
In Vancouver, they will join fellow top prospect Arjun Nimmala, who has been off to a strong start himself in the Northwest League.
