Blue Jays show how gamesmanship can be part of playoff baseball

TORONTO – Late Wednesday evening, Trey Yesavage walked from the third base dugout to the Yankee Stadium bullpen and tried to keep a straight face.

A couple of hours earlier, manager John Schneider had told the media that Yesavage and fellow starter Kevin Gausman would be available out of the bullpen for Game 4 of the ALDS. But while the Toronto Blue Jays wanted the Yankees to have that impression, Yesavage was, in fact, a decoy designed to distract Aaron Judge and the rest of New York’s lineup.

So as he walked to the left field bullpen, Yesavage made sure to look focused in case a camera found him or anyone on the Yankees was looking.

“I was trying not to smile,” he said. “I was trying to act locked in.”

With the stakes so high this time of year, every potential advantage takes on added significance, and there was some value in distracting the Yankees from the pitchers who were slated to appear in Toronto’s eventual Game 4 win. While teams wouldn’t attempt this level of gamesmanship in April or May, there’s a place for it in October, especially in potential elimination games.

“Playoffs is a little bit different,” Schneider said. “I don't know if it affected anything that New York was going to do, but you never know, really, where the game was going to head.

"(Gausman) was probably more of a viable option than Trey if that game got to a certain point. But players have to go execute; you know what I mean? I'm a big believer in that. I like to do simple things right.”

The experience was another first for Yesavage, a 22-year-old who played at four minor-league levels this year before earning a promotion to the Blue Jays late in September. When Schneider told him before the game he wanted him to walk out to the bullpen in the fourth inning, he took the assignment seriously.

“I thought it was funny just learning how this playoff baseball is kind of crazy,” Yesavage said. “There's a bunch of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that the average fan would have no idea about. I thought it was really cool.”

So too was the experience of sitting in the Yankee Stadium bullpen while the phone kept ringing as the Blue Jays navigated a bullpen game on their way to a series win.

“More stressful than being in the dugout,” Yesavage said. “Just because guys in the bullpen were flying around getting hot every inning. I never heard a phone that loud in my life, the one that rings down there.”

The gamesmanship arguably continues in the ALCS with the Blue Jays once again lining Yesavage up to pitch at home in Game 2. The Mariners have never before seen Yesavage, who has started all of four big-league games, including the ALDS masterpiece in which he held the Yankees hitless while striking out 11.

But with Yesavage pitching in Toronto, the Mariners won’t have access to any of the high-tech hitting devices teams store at home, including the life-like Trajekt pitching machines that most teams use to prepare for unfamiliar pitchers. Instead, it’ll be on Seattle’s hitting coaches to prepare their hitters for a rookie pitcher whose release point is the highest among all MLB pitchers.

“Yeah, he's definitely something that we're going to have to figure out,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson. “The big arm, the big split, they're tough pitches, clearly ... Something that our guys are going to have to adjust to.”

Meanwhile, the more experienced Shane Bieber lines up for Game 3 on the road at T-Mobile Park. It's a tougher assignment, but that's why the Blue Jays acquired Bieber, the 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner.

Adding to the gamesmanship, both managers played it coy when it came to announcing further pitching plans, with Wilson declining to name a Game 2 starter or delineate a clear plan for Bryan Woo, who was added to the ALCS roster after missing the ALDS. That's standard practice this time of year as teams seek every possible advantage.

As for Schneider, he stopped short of locking in roles for Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt, preferring to stay flexible and keep the Mariners guessing. The manager suggested the “little bit of theatre” at Yankee Stadium was a product of some unusual circumstances and not likely to become his new norm. Then again, that’s exactly what the Blue Jays would say if they wanted the opposition to let their guard down.