The 2025 Major League Baseball season was not what many would call a breakout year for rookie starting pitchers. According to Baseball-Reference’s Stathead tool, only six rookie starters reached 2.0 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), a key metric used to gauge player value. This number ties for the 19th-lowest in the last 25 years, with only the 2001 season producing fewer rookie starters reaching that milestone. By this traditional standard, 2025 was actually a historically weak year for rookie starters.
However, those who closely followed the season know that this statistic doesn’t tell the full story. While there weren’t many rookie pitchers who dominated all year with superstar-level numbers, there were several rookies who made meaningful contributions, particularly as the season progressed. A number of young arms—such as Cam Schlittler, Cade Horton, Luis Morales, Nolan McLean, Chase Burns, and Jacob Misiorowski—emerged as valuable assets, especially for Fantasy Baseball players. And these names only scratch the surface of the rookie pitching talent that debuted in 2025.
Perhaps the most exciting rookie pitcher of the year was someone who barely made a splash in Fantasy Baseball circles: Trey Yesavage of the Toronto Blue Jays. Yesavage’s impact in terms of Fantasy numbers was minimal simply because he was called up late in the season, in mid-September, and made just three starts before the regular season ended. Yet, when it came to high-pressure, high-leverage moments—especially in the postseason—Yesavage stamped his name on the 2025 season in a way few pitchers, rookie or veteran, could.
Yesavage’s moment of brilliance came in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, widely regarded as one of the most formidable lineups in baseball. In a dominant performance, he struck out 12 batters over seven innings, allowing only one run in a tightly contested game. This was his second postseason start with double-digit strikeouts, underscoring his ability to perform under the spotlight. What was especially impressive was the full range of pitches he displayed, including a slider that many did not expect to see from him.
Before this, Yesavage had already shown the devastating effectiveness of his splitter, which he throws from a high arm slot, creating a sharp, tumbling movement that fools hitters into swinging and missing. On this World Series night, however, it was his slider that truly stole the show. He threw it nearly half the time (43%) and generated 14 swings and misses on 29 swings, while also inducing weak contact with an average exit velocity of just 83.1 miles per hour on balls put in play. This slider was so effective it arguably became his best pitch during that outing.
Yesavage’s dominance isn’t limited to one start. Earlier in the World Series, he had held the Dodgers to just two runs over four innings, striking out five. Across the postseason, he has compiled 39 strikeouts with a 3.46 ERA in 26 innings pitched, facing not only the Dodgers but also strong offenses like the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners, notably, had the second-best weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) in the league on the road during the regular season, further highlighting the quality of competition Yesavage has faced.
While it’s true that Yesavage’s major league sample size is small—40 innings pitched in total—his 55 strikeouts to 17 walks ratio is impressive, especially for a 21-year-old who began the 2025 season in A ball. Of course, caution is warranted; it would be premature to rank him among the top ten starting pitchers for the 2026 season. But the upside he has demonstrated is undeniable and certainly worth watching in the coming years.
Yesavage’s story is just one part of a larger narrative about the rookie and second-year pitching talent that emerged in 2025. In fact, there are at least five other pitchers from the 2025 rookie class—some of whom have exhausted their rookie eligibility and others who will still qualify as rookies in 2026—who are projected to be among the top 150 picks in Fantasy drafts and who could potentially crack the top 100. Many more pitchers from this group are expected to be drafted in most Fantasy Baseball leagues, signaling a promising pool of young arms to monitor.
Before diving into a comprehensive “State of the Starting Pitcher” analysis