After three solid starts in the regular season, accounting for fourteen days of service time (keep this in mind), Yesavage had a historic postseason debut, striking out eleven in five and a third hitless innings. In a crucial Game 5 of the World Series, he retired twelve Los Angeles Dodgers in seven innings of one-run ball.
With these performances, Yesavage established himself as a must-watch pitcher and will be crucial to the Jays’ rotation in 2026. The best part? Yesavage has retained his rookie status, which is great news for the Blue Jays.
The Prospect Promotion Incentive choice was introduced in 2022 to stop teams from manipulating service time for top prospects. If a player is considered a top 100 prospect by two of the players ESPN, MLB Pipeline, or Baseball America and wins Rookie of the Year, the team will be eligible for a draft pick after the first round.
It also applies to players who played three or fewer years and finished in the top three in MVP or Cy Young voting. Bobby Witt Jr. earned the Kansas City Royals a first-round pick thanks to his nomination as the 2024 American League MVP nominee, while Paul Skenes won the 2025 National League Cy Young.
Yesavage only has 14 days of service time, because it does not count in the play-offs. Players with more than 60 days of service time are not eligible for a PPI selection for their team. Another requirement is that the prospect must be in the top 100 on two of the three sites, ESPN, MLB Pipeline, or Baseball America. He will certainly be high on those lists, making him eligible for a PPI pick for the Jays.
It’s also not out of the realm of possibility that he wins it. In 2024, Luis Gil won the American League Rookie of the Year award with the New York Yankees thanks to a 3.50 ERA and 4.14 FIP in 151.2 innings pitched. Unsurprisingly, Skenes won the NL Rookie of the Year award, but he was called up too late to get the Pirates a pick That season.
That said, it’s not that often that a pitcher wins Rookie of the Year. Devin Williams won it with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2020. Shohei Ohtani won it with the Los Angeles Angels in 2018, but that’s a completely different circumstance. The last time an American League pitcher won before Gil was back in 2024 was Michael Fulmer in 2016.
The good news is that even if Yesavage doesn’t win the 2026 Rookie of the Year award, he’s still eligible to earn the Blue Jays a PPI pick in the next two seasons as long as he finishes third or higher in Cy Young or MVP voting.
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