Trey Yesavage took another step towards his Toronto Blue Jays return on Friday.
The 23-year-old right-hander threw a side session in Texas, opening the door for him to take the mound for the Blue Jays on either Sunday or Monday. Blue Jays manager John Schneider, however, told reporters that Yesavage is "more likely" to pitch on Monday.
Yesavage has been recovering from knee surgery he underwent in mid-August after exiting a start against the Houston Astros on Aug. 4 before the third inning.
Toronto's first-round pick in 2024, Yesavage made a rehab start on Tuesday and failed to escape the first inning, allowing a pair of runs on 34 pitches.
More importantly, though, Yesavage felt good physically after the outing.
"Felt great, felt like nothing ever happened," he said. "It's felt good up until this point, ever since I started throwing, so I wasn't surprised but happy that it stayed the same."
As Toronto operates down the stretch with just three healthy starters, Yesavage's return could offer a potential boost to its heavily used bullpen — something the 2025 post-season star said Wednesday he was hoping to provide for his team.
"It's up to people that are higher up than me and make decisions," Yesavage told reporters. "But I think I'm ready to go and take some stress off the bullpen."
Over 18 starts and 93.2 innings for the Blue Jays this season, the six-foot-four hurler racked up 91 strikeouts while pitching to a 3.65 ERA. He began the year on the injured list after dealing with a shoulder impingement during spring training.
Along with Yesavage's side on Friday, fellow injured starter Shane Bieber is expected to throw a side session of his own on Saturday.
Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling reported that a regular-season return for Bieber is off the table and that he is building up in order to be an option for Toronto, should it make the playoffs.
Bieber hit the injured list on Aug. 25 with teres major inflammation.
On the position player front, Andrés Giménez remained out of the lineup on Friday with hamstring soreness but is available off the bench and could return on Saturday.
Giménez missed Toronto's finale against the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday after an early exit on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old is a three-time Gold Glove winner. This season he's hitting .245/.290/.362 with nine home runs and 57 RBI in 140 games played.
The Blue Jays begin a series with the Texas Rangers on Friday as they sit 2.0 games back of the Cleveland Guardians for the third wild-card spot in the American League. You can catch all the action on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+, starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
4:46