Trey Yesavage’s ascension to the majors and subsequent post-season run have been remarkable, and his legend only continued to grow in Game 1 of the Fall Classic.
In the first at-bat of the 2025 World Series, the 22-year-old rookie struck out Shohei Ohtani on a pitch he simply doesn’t miss.
Yesavage got the reigning National League MVP to wave at a splitter at the knees, marking his first swinging strikeout on the pitch type since May 6. He hadn’t struck out on a splitter at all – swinging or looking – since July 3.
Ohtani has a .682 slugging percentage against splitters including the regular season and playoff, third among players to face over 100 pitches. Due to his proficiency in hammering the pitch, splitters amounted to only 3.8 per cent of the pitches Ohtani saw as pitchers avoiding throwing them to the Japanese superstar.
But Yesavage’s was different.
The six-foot-four right-hander has one of the highest release points and steepest arm angles in baseball, and has allowed a .119 average and .262 slugging percentage on his splitter.
It was a good splitter hitter against a good splitter pitcher, and Yesavage won.
Only 16 months ago, Yesavage was pitching for East Carolina University. Since he’s shot through all four minor-league levels, pitched games down the stretch for the American League champion Blue Jays and has now become the second-youngest pitcher to start Game 1 of the World Series.
