Appearing on Blair & Barker on Friday, Blue Jays manager John Schneider offered an update on a number of players, including starting pitchers Jose Berrios and Trey Yesavage.
Berrios, who has missed the entire 2026 season with an elbow injury, is close to returning and will throw in triple-A Friday, Schneider said, meaning Yesavage will be the Toronto’s starter in the team’s series conclusion with the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.
“He’s gonna throw in triple-A today, just a bullpen (session), and kinda stay on his routine,” Schneider said of Berrios. “I think what we’re gonna do is have him pitch one more time down there. That’s where we’re leaning. Get his pitch count up, get him just a little more game action and go Trey on Sunday here in Minnesota and then kind of re-assess it after that.
“But he’s feeling good, I just think it’s more so the pitch count and wanting him to get back into Major League games where he’ll have a chance to go five, six innings or whatever it is and go from there.”
As for Yesavage, Schneider liked what he saw from the 22-year-old after he went 5.1 effective innings of no-run ball in his season debut against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.
Schneider said it’s just a matter of keeping things consistent.
“I thought he did really well stepping in, and the next one is just continuing to build the pitch count and continuing to get onto a routine of pitching every five, six days then here we go, this is your first Major League season — first full-ish Major League season,” said Schneider of expectations for the young right-hander this season. “So, nothing really out of the ordinary for Trey. I know what I don’t want to do is expect him to strike out 10 or 12 or 14 hitters every outing and just have some realistic expectations for him.”
Providing an update on Addison Barger, Schneider seemed encouraged that he’s coming along well, too.
“Addy’s doing well. He’s running the bases today — I think he’s just getting done with that now — down in the (Player Development Complex). And then he’s gonna play in Dunedin on Sunday,” the Blue Jays manager said. “They’re off on Monday and then he’ll probably play again on Tuesday and then we’ll kind of see where we’re at.
“We’re down there at (Tropicana Field in Tampa beginning Monday), so, hopefully, at the very least, we’ll get to see him and have him, at least, come work out with us and then maybe go play that night or something like that. We definitely want to see Addy once we’re down there and see how he’s doing. But he’s getting close, so the game on Sunday is a step in the right direction.”
Barger has been out of the lineup since April 5 with an ankle injury. Before getting hurt, the 26-year-old slugger struggled to replicate his success from last season, logging just one hit in 19 at-bats.
