Si:am | The Numbers Behind Trey Yesavage’s Historic Game 5 Start

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. The scariest point you tin watch connected TV this Halloween is going to beryllium nan Dodgers’ bullpen. 

In today’s SI:AM: 
👏 Trey Yesavage shines
🔎 Anonymous fig astatine nan halfway of gambling probe
🏀 WNBA large board

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The Blue Jays person nan Dodgers correct wherever they want them—all acknowledgment to a 22-year-old pitcher who hadn’t sounded successful a pro crippled earlier April. 

Rookie starter Trey Yesavage mowed done nan Dodgers’ multimillion-dollar lineup successful Game 5 of nan World Series connected Wednesday successful Los Angeles, and Toronto’s hitters touched up Blake Snell and nan much-maligned Dodgers bullpen en way to a 6–1 Jays triumph that put them up 3–2 successful nan series. That sends nan bid backmost to Toronto connected Friday, pinch nan Jays needing to triumph conscionable 1 of 2 location games to triumph their first title since 1993. 

Yesavage was brilliant. He sounded 7 innings, allowing 1 tally connected 3 hits pinch 12 strikeouts and nary walks. The lone tally scored connected a solo homer by Kiké Hernández successful nan 3rd inning, connected an elevated fastball from Yesavage that sewage excessively overmuch of nan plate. The different 2 hits were some infield singles by Teoscar Hernández. 

It was an awe-inspiring capacity that produced much nosy facts than I could perchance see here. Here are a fewer of my favourite ones: 

All of this is made moreover much unthinkable by nan truth that Yesavage made his master debut successful April pinch nan Dunedin Blue Jays of nan Class A Florida State League. He rocketed done nan Toronto workplace system, making 7 appearances pinch Dunedin, 4 pinch High-A Vancouver, 8 pinch Double A New Hampshire and six pinch Triple A Buffalo earlier making his large convention debut connected Sept. 15. He didn’t precisely travel retired of nowhere. He was nan 20th prime successful nan 2024 draught aft 3 beardown seasons astatine East Carolina and was classed among nan apical 100 prospects successful shot earlier nan commencement of this play by MLB.com. Still, to person progressed done nan insignificant leagues that quickly and go a pennant winner’s apical starter is outrageous. 

Part of what makes Yesavage an effective pitcher is nan measurement successful which he differs from astir others successful nan league. He throws from an highly elevated merchandise point, overmuch much of a consecutive overhand transportation than nan three-quarters limb perspective that pitchers coming favor. He besides throws a highly different slider that breaks to nan limb broadside alternatively than nan mitt side. That, paired pinch an fantabulous splitter and a mid-90s fastball, makes him a difficult puzzle for hitters to unravel. 

But astir importantly connected Wednesday, Yesavage buckled down and maintained his composure successful nan biggest crippled of his life, little than 7 months aft he took nan mound arsenic a pro for nan first clip successful a outpouring training stadium successful Florida successful beforehand of 327 people. 

“He located each transportation he wanted to today,” Dodgers 3rd baseman Max Muncy said. “Game 1, he didn’t needfully person nan champion command, and today, I don’t deliberation he missed a azygous spot, pinch nan objection of down beneath nan zone, which is what he wants to do. He didn’t springiness america thing to return advantage of.”

The champion of Sports Illustrated

The Bears QB is 1 of nan astir divisive players successful nan NFL. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

… things I saw past night: 
5. This photo by Associated Press photographer David J. Phillip of Trey Yesavage wholly fooling Shohei Ohtani pinch a strikeout pitch. 
4. A gorgeous one-touch goal by Rose Lavelle successful nan USWNT’s friends against New Zealand.
3. Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s back-to-back homers to lead disconnected Game 5. 
2. A bully diving catch by Addison Barger connected 1 of nan only hard-hit balls Trey Yesavage allowed. 
1. Austin Reaves’s floater astatine nan buzzer to triumph it for nan Lakers.