Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, postseason edition! We'll keep you up to speed on everything you need to know every weekday throughout the 2025 MLB playoffs. Thanks for being here.

When Blue Jays rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage starts Game 2 of the American League Championship Series against the Mariners today, it’ll mark six months to the day since only his second professional start, notable on its own given the stakes and stage. Did you know that start (as well as his debut five days prior) came at Single-A?

Indeed, Yesavage climbed every rung of the Minor League ladder this season before making his Sept. 15 MLB debut, and subsequently emerging as the Blue Jays’ most important pitcher this postseason. Wherever his (and Toronto’s) 2025 season ends, Yesavage will have spent the year seeing and experiencing it all in ways most players cannot claim. He pitched at Single-A. He pitched at High-A. He pitched at Double-A and Triple-A before reaching Toronto. And now he’ll once again take the ball on the October stage.

Yesavage’s path through all four full-season Minor League levels in one year isn’t unprecedented. But it is rare. Since 2005, he’s only the 10th player to do so in the year he also made his MLB debut. At each stop, there were moments that stood out for what they said about Yesavage’s ability or development, hinting at the budding star within.

That said, few could have anticipated how quickly Yesavage would make such an outsize impact, nor how much faith Toronto is already putting in the 22-year-old as it seeks its first World Series championship since 1993 (a full decade before Yesavage was born, by the way).

Two must-read feature stories chronicling Yesavage’s rise appeared this week from our crack MLB Pipeline team, which spent the entire season chronicling Yesavage’s rise. In the first, Jonathan Mayo looks at where Yesavage came from, digging into his transformation from raw prospect to postseason competitor. In the latest, Sam Dykstra speaks to opponents, teammates and coaches from each of Yesavage’s Minor League stops in an attempt to better understand that meteoric rise. 

-- Joe Trezza

Would you rather have the electric 23-year-old rookie who throws 100 mph, or … the other electric 23-year-old rookie who throws 100 mph?

In the National League Championship Series, you'll have your pick: Roki Sasaki and the Dodgers, or Jacob Misiorowski and the Brewers. And if you've watched either of these two phenoms pitch in the playoffs, you know you can't go wrong.
 
But it's funny, because if you were watching them pitch only a month or two ago, your answer might have been "neither."

Both Sasaki and Misiorowski have found redemption in the postseason bullpens of their respective teams. Both nearly had their rookie seasons derailed by rocky performance over the summer, only to come back and dominate in the playoffs as relievers.

So will Roki or The Miz give their team the edge they need to reach the World Series? Tune in to Game 1 tonight (8:08 p.m. ET on TBS, truTV, HBO Max) to find out.

-- David Adler

• You might have noticed a definitive pattern with Max Scherzer: If he plays for your squad, you’re probably going to be really good. With the three-time Cy Young Award winner having been named to the Blue Jays’ roster for the ALCS, Mad Max has the opportunity to participate in the postseason for his sixth franchise, which would tie a Major League record set by just four other players.

• Ever been to a game when the crowd gets so loud, it feels like the ground under your feet is shaking? That happens in Seattle quite a bit, as it turns out – the fan reaction to this iconic Marshawn Lynch run registered a not-insignificant 2.0 on the Richter Scale. As such, a group of Pacific Northwest scientists wanted to know just how much Mariners fans could bring it, so they brought a seismograph to Game 5 of the ALDS against the Tigers. By the 15th inning, suffice to say it was a very moving experience.

• Though the Phillies couldn’t pull off a comeback victory in the NLDS, Kyle Schwarber’s epic moonshot off Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 3 won’t soon be forgotten. In fact, the Dodgers commemorated Schwarber’s might with a plaque in Dodger Stadium 455 feet away from home plate, making him the fifth visiting player honored in that fashion.

-- Bryan Horowitz

This year’s ALCS catching matchup between Seattle’s Cal Raleigh and Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk isn’t just a duel between two of the best backstops in the game. It’s also a testament to the value of sharp scouting instincts.

As MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis explains, the Mariners’ statistical model didn’t particularly like Raleigh as a sophomore coming out of Florida State prior to the 2018 Draft. In fact, it ranked him 379th in the Draft pool. But the team trusted the intel it got from one of its longtime area scouts and took Raleigh in the third round.

Kirk’s path to pro ball was quite different from Raleigh’s, but it likewise stemmed from a scout’s belief in the player. Our Blue Jays beat reporter, Keegan Matheson, recently chronicled how the team discovered Kirk while in Mexico to see a different catcher. Although there were questions about Kirk’s weight and physical build, one of Toronto’s special assignment scouts was enamored with the teenager’s tools and makeup, and the rest is history.

Years later, Raleigh and Kirk are both All-Stars and foundational pieces for the last two teams still standing in the AL, fighting for a trip to the World Series. Raleigh played a key role in Seattle’s Game 1 win over the Blue Jays on Sunday night, hitting a game-tying homer in the top of the sixth inning (his 62nd this year between the regular season and the playoffs). Kirk and the Blue Jays will look to even things up today (5:03 p.m. ET on FOX, FS1). 

-- Thomas Harrigan

The manager carousel continues to spin, and on Monday, it took a surprise detour. Padres skipper Mike Shildt retired after two years on the job, 11 days after San Diego saw its season come to a heartbreaking end in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Cubs. Shildt, 57, had two years remaining on a contract extension he signed last November and had won 90-plus games and made the playoffs in both of his seasons with the club.

Even with the Rangers naming Skip Schumaker their new manager on Oct. 3, replacing Bruce Bochy, the Padres are joining a crowded field of teams in search of a skipper. The seven other current suitors are (deep breath): the Angels, Braves, Giants, Orioles, Nationals, Rockies and Twins. Add in the Padres, Rangers and Pirates (who replaced Derek Shelton with Don Kelly in May), and that would make 10 teams (one-third of the league) that will be led by a different manager on Opening Day 2026 than they were on Opening Day 2025.

One intriguing name that could fill one of these slots? Albert Pujols. The 700 Home Run Club member, who managed last winter in the Dominican Professional Baseball League and the Caribbean Series, has met with Angels GM Perry Minasian to discuss their position, a source told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. You can follow this page for further developments on Pujols, the Angels and all of the other managerial openings this offseason.

-- Andrew Simon

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