VIDEO SHOWS: COMMENTS FROM TORONTO BLUE JAYS PITCHER TREY YESAVAGE & MANAGER JOHN SCHNEIDER AHEAD OF GAME 1 OF THE WORLD SERIES AGAINST THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: TORONTO, CANADA (OCTOBER 23, 2025) (MLB – Editorial use only, no monetisation) 1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) TORONTO BLUE JAYS PITCHER, TREY YESAVAGE, SAYING: REPORTER: “How did you get that, like, how did (manager) John Schneider deliver that news and what was your reaction?” YESAVAGE: “Pretty much called me into his office, said they had faith in me to run me out there in the first game, and I was fired up. Got up, hugged him, hugged (pitching coach) Pete (Walker). I was very excited.” 2. WHITE FLASH 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) TORONTO BLUE JAYS PITCHER, TREY YESAVAGE, ON NOT OVERTHINKING ABOUT STARTING GAME 1 OF A WORLD SERIES, SAYING: “No, I mean, I'm pretty meat and potatoes with it. Just keep it basic. I don't want to be out there on the mound thinking too much, because for me, I'm at best when I'm just black dead out there and not thinking at all.” 4. WHITE FLASH 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) TORONTO BLUE JAYS PITCHER, TREY YESAVAGE, ON BEING THE SECOND-YOUNGEST WORLD SERIES GAME 1 STARTER IN HISTORY, SAYING: “It's something I never even would have dreamed of, but I'm here now and I'm embracing it fully and I'm so happy to be here.” 6. WHITE FLASH 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) TORONTO BLUE JAYS PITCHER, TREY YESAVAGE, ON SHOHEI OHTANI, SAYING: “He's a special player. He can do damage on both sides of the baseball, but it doesn't take away the fact that we are in this situation too for a reason. So, just going out there and being ourselves and if there's adjustments that we need to make to try to neutralise him, we'll make those adjustments.” 8. WHITE FLASH 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) TORONTO BLUE JAYS MANAGER, JOHN SCHNEIDER, ON BEING MANAGER OF A TEAM IN THE WORLD SERIES, SAYING: “Managing the rookie ball Gulf Coast League team and playing 10:30 games on a Saturday at the complex is a far cry from this, right? But I think you think about the work that you've done, the people you've met, the adjustments you've made, this was always the end goal, right? With this organisation. Did I think that it would happen? Probably not, because of how this game works and how there's a lot of movement to this job. So, I'm really excited about this. But I'm just as excited for guys that I've known for a long time, for (shortstop) Bo (Bichette), for (first baseman) Vlad(-imir Guerrero Jr.), for guys that have been here for numerous years. It's just really cool for the organisation, and I'm just thankful and humbled that I'm the one doing it, leading them into the World Series.” 10. WHITE FLASH 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) TORONTO BLUE JAYS MANAGER, JOHN SCHNEIDER, ON HIS TEAM STANDING UP TO THE PRESSURE OF PLAYING IN A WORLD SERIES, SAYING: “You know, I think that there's a lot of firsts for a lot of these guys. Myself included, staff included, you know, so, I want them to enjoy it, you know, again, I think that players are going to feel certain things that they haven't felt before, right? Once you get that initial, kind of, shock and awe off you, I think that this team is really good about focusing on what they need to do. So, we'll see, you know, again, I'm going to take on a few seconds to enjoy it. I'm sure they will, and then when you get into compete mode, hopefully it slows down a little bit, but it is going to be a pretty electric atmosphere here tomorrow.” 12. WHITE FLASH 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) TORONTO BLUE JAYS MANAGER, JOHN SCHNEIDER, SAYING: REPORTER: “Hi John.” SCHNEIDER: “Hey.” REPORTER: “Some of the pundits south of the border have called this a David versus Goliath fight.” SCHNEIDER: “Sure.” REPORTER: “How do you see it?” SCHNEIDER: “Two best teams left standing. Again, built differently, have different strengths, and, I mean, there's a reason we’re here and there's a reason they're there, you know, I think the one thing we cannot do is look over there and say that is Goliath. That is a beatable baseball team that has its flaws, and that has its really, really good strengths. How we expose each of them will determine who wins the series, and I got all the confidence in the world in my guys. I'll say it till the day I die with this group, I'll put this group of 26 up against anybody, and they're looking forward to taking on what is on paper the best team in baseball, that is playing really well right now, and I don't think they’d have it any other way.” STORY: Trey Yesavage began the 2025 season pitching for Class-A Dunedin, throwing in front of 327 people in his pro baseball debut on April 8. On Friday, he'll be pitching on baseball's biggest stage. One day after a brief meeting in manager John Schneider's office, the Toronto Blue Jays named Yesavage as their Game 1 starter of the World Series on Thursday (October 23). He'll oppose two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers in Toronto. At 22 years and 88 days, Yesavage will be the second-youngest pitcher to start Game 1 in World Series history. Only Ralph Branca, pitching for the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, was younger at 21 years and 267 days. Yesavage is not spending any time pouring over data or hot zones for the potent offense of the Dodgers, fearing he might kickstart a thought process he won't be able to turn off mid-game. Yesavage was selected by the Blue Jays in the first round (No. 20 overall) of the 2024 MLB Draft from East Carolina. He played at every level of the Blue Jays' system in 2025, moving from Dunedin to High-A Vancouver to Double-A New Hampshire to Triple-A Buffalo. He had a combined record of 5-1 with a 3.12 ERA in 25 games (22 starts) at the minor-league levels, striking out 160 batters in 98 innings. After his September call-up by the Blue Jays, Yesavage started three regular-season games and was 1-0 with a 3.21 ERA. In three postseason starts, he has a 2-1 record, a 4.20 ERA and 22 strikeouts to seven walks in 15 innings. He was masterful in the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees. He pitched 5 1/3 no-hit innings, striking out 11 and walking one batter to earn the win in Game 2. His counterpart, Snell, was 5-4 with a 2.35 ERA in just 11 starts in an injury-marred debut season in Los Angeles. The 32-year-old, however, is playing at full strength. In three postseason starts this October, Snell is 3-0 with an ERA of 0.86. He has given up two runs on six hits and five walks in 21 innings with 28 strikeouts. (Production: Stefan Haskins)
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