Blue Jays right-hander Trey Yesavage is headed for more testing on his left knee after imaging turned up a meniscus issue, according to Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet. Yesavage will travel to Texas on Monday to see a specialist, and manager John Schneider said surgery is a possibility.
“ [Surgery] is always a possibility,” Schneider told reporters after sharing that Yesavage would see a specialist (h/t Shi Davidi of Sportsnet). “ We’re obviously hoping to avoid that.”
The news marks a more serious turn from the initial diagnosis, which had been left knee inflammation when Yesavage was placed on the injured list Wednesday.
The injury surfaced Tuesday in Houston, where Yesavage exited after two innings. He was uncomfortable while warming up before the third inning and left the field after a brief outing in which he had been effective. After a leadoff walk to begin the game, he retired six straight Astros.
Yesavage’s season has already been interrupted once. After becoming an important piece of Toronto’s run to the 2025 World Series, he was slowed in the spring by a shoulder injury and began the year on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement.
He returned at the end of April and settled in nicely, putting up a 3.65 ERA with a 3.36 xERA over 18 starts. He has walked 11.9% of batters faced, but opponents have only hit .180 against him, helping him to a 1.14 WHIP.
Toronto had also been approaching Yesavage’s workload carefully. He threw 112 innings between the minors and majors in his first pro season last year, then added another 27 2/3 innings in the postseason.
Even with the delayed start this year, he entered August at 91 2/3 innings. The Blue Jays could have managed his usage more tightly over the stretch run, especially if they slipped out of the AL Wild Card race.
That possibility is now off the table with the knee issue.
The rotation picture in Toronto has changed a lot since the trade deadline. The Blue Jays moved longtime ace Kevin Gausman, but brought in Jose Soriano and Jameson Taillon. They also acquired Spencer Arrighetti from the Astros, and he had been viewed as a possible addition to the rotation later in the season as he worked back from a foot injury.
That path may be delayed after Arrighetti was pulled from his Triple-A start last night (h/t Brian Frank/The Herd Chronicles on X). Arrighetti had gone on the IL near the end of July with right foot nerve irritation, then returned to the mound with Buffalo on Thursday.
He was removed during an at-bat in the third inning after not allowing a hit through 2 1/3 innings in his first appearance with his new club. It is not clear whether the foot issue played a role in the early exit.
Arrighetti, 26, was limited to seven starts with Houston last season because of thumb and elbow injuries. He stayed healthy this year, but his results cratered before the trade, finishing with an 8.34 ERA over his final nine starts with the Astros.
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