Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage celebrates after the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game five of the 2025 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium.

They say legends are made in October. Well, Trey Yesavage is certainly putting his stamp on the 2025 Fall Classic.

Through six innings in Game 5, the Blue Jays rookie had recorded 11 strikeouts and promptly struck out Freddie Freeman in the bottom of the seventh to give him 12.

That 12th strikeout was significant, because it gave him the record for most strikeouts in a World Series game by a rookie, breaking the record previously held by Don Newcombe, who struck out 11 Yankees in Game 1 of the 1949 World Series.

Yesavage absolutely dominated the Dodgers Wednesday night. Seven innings of one-run ball will certainly put you in consideration for World Series MVP, as well. Here's everything to know about this 22-year-old standout.

Trey Yesavage stats

Game 5 stats vs. Dodgers:

  • 7 innings
  • 3 hits (one home run)
  • 1 run
  • 0 walks
  • 12 strikeouts
  • 104 pitches.

Yesavage didn't pitch much for Toronto during the regular season. After all, he just made his debut on Sept. 15, giving him very little time to adjust to Major League hitting before the playoffs started. Clearly, it hasn't affected him much, though.

During the regular season, Yesavage made just three starts and pitched only 14 innings, surrendering five runs on 13 hits and seven walks, good for a 3.21 ERA.

Where Yesavage really shined, though, was his strikeout rate. In those three starts, Yesavage managed 16 strikeouts, good for a 10.3 K/9 rate. He is remarkable at forcing swings and misses, as well. He ranked near the top of MLB in both chase rate (36.3%) and whiff rate (35.4%), per Baseball Savant, although he did not pitch enough to qualify for the official leaderboards in either category.

This postseason, Yesavage had started four games to the tune of a 4.26 ERA prior to Wednesday's Game 5. His strikeout rate has remained an astronomically high 12.3 and will climb drastically after this performance.

World Series records

After a terrific outing in Game 1, Yesavage was already turning heads, but Game 5 has been his magnum opus. Here are a few of his postseason records:

  • Most strikeouts by a rookie in World Series game (12)
  • First rookie in MLB history with multiple games of 10-plus strikeouts in postseason
  • Most strikeouts by a rookie through first four innings of a World Series game (8)
  • Most strikeouts by rookie in a single postseason (39 − previous record was 33)

Trey Yesavage contract

Yesavage signed a $4.175 million signing bonus after being drafted in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft. In 2025, still in pre-arbitration, Yesavage has earned a modest $760,000 salary, per Spotrac. In 2026, he will earn $820,000.

Trey Yesavage World Series MVP odds

According to BetMGM, Yesavage currently has +1600 odds to win World Series MVP, tied for the third-best odds with Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Only Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (-190) and Shohei Ohtani (+200) have better odds.

Trey Yesavage height

Yesavage is listed at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trey Yesavage stats: Blue Jays phenom dominates Dodgers, makes World Series history

Reporting by Jon Hoefling, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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