HOUSTON – When Trey Yesavage felt a pinching sensation in his left knee while warming up for the bottom of the third inning Tuesday, he and the Toronto Blue Jays opted for caution.
After a brief discussion with manager John Schneider and a team trainer, the right-hander exited the game, giving way to Chad Dallas and a new set of questions for the Blue Jays.
Soon afterwards, Houston’s hitters exploded for six runs to set in motion a 7-2 victory over the Blue Jays in front of 30,450 at Daikin Park. With the loss, the Blue Jays fall to 53-61 and remain 4.0 games behind the Guardians for the final American League wild-card spot.
Yesavage was not available to the media post-game since he was getting treatment, but Schneider said he was slated to get an MRI Wednesday.
“He felt like a little pinch in his left knee,” Schneider explained. “He said he was okay, but we’re not taking any chances.”
The pinching sensation was completely new, according to Schneider, and prevented Yesavage from stabilizing himself on his landing leg.
Dallas struggled, walking four while allowing six earned runs, but the Blue Jays had to try to get some length from him as they’re in the midst of a stretch of 30 games in 31 games and nearly two weeks removed from their next day off.
A couple of hours before first pitch, Schneider announced the Blue Jays were moving to a six-man rotation as a way to integrate newcomers Jameson Taillon and Jose Soriano while providing a breather for the likes of Dylan Cease, who has reached 118 pitches in two of his last four starts.
The status of Yesavage will be assessed further in the days to come, but there’s clearly no need to rush him back under the circumstances. Not only do the Blue Jays have five starters ready to go, there’s also the recently acquired Spencer Arrighetti, who offered to skip a rehab assignment and pitch against his former team this week if needed.
The Blue Jays told him ‘thanks but no thanks,’ and he’s now slated to pitch in a triple-A rehab game Thursday. In the meantime, he’s getting to know his new coaches and teammates — quite an adjustment for the 26-year-old, who grew up in Houston cheering for the Astros.
Now that Arrighetti has to leave “this bubble of supreme comfort,” he acknowledges “there is some separation anxiety.” At the same time, he’s optimistic that he can work with the Blue Jays’ pitching people to be sure he’s “suffocating the zone” with strikes.
Though leaving the Astros was tough, Arrighetti described three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer as a “childhood hero” and said it’s a “dream come true” to play with former Astros George Springer and Myles Straw.
When Arrighetti returns, the Blue Jays may have a tough decision to make, but as the Yesavage knee discomfort shows, these things have a way of working themselves out. Either way, there won’t be any workload restrictions around Yesavage moving forward, according to Schneider.
The Blue Jays managed his innings carefully this spring, ramping him up more slowly than other starters because of a demanding 2025 season that saw him throw 139.2 total innings, 27.2 of which came during a post-season run that established him as a rising star.
A year later, Yesavage has pitched 93.2 innings, putting him on track to surpass last year’s total and land in the 140-150 range as long as he’s able to rejoin the rotation without much of an interruption.
Offensively, Straw was the only real standout Tuesday. He contributed a double and a triple, but the rest of the lineup was quiet, combining for just three hits. Too many nights like this have made the Blue Jays MLB’s least prolific offence so far in 2026.
“We made some quick outs,” Schneider said. “Just not a whole lot of barrels.”
Meanwhile, Schneider described Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as “tight (and) tired” while adding that “nothing major” is impacting him. It was another hitless night for Guerrero Jr., whose season OPS fell to .687 against starter Hayden Wesneski and the Houston bullpen.
Despite his impressive raw power and lengthy track record of success against MLB pitching, only 11 qualified hitters have a lower slugging percentage than Guerrero Jr.’s .349 mark this season.
“He's obviously frustrated and it’s hot in here and we're playing a lot of games in a row coming up, so we'll just see how he is tomorrow offensively,” Schneider said.
On Wednesday, Taillon will make his Blue Jays debut as the Blue Jays look for a series win before heading to Chicago, where they’ll meet up with longtime teammate Kevin Gausman for a single make-up game at Wrigley Field.
