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The Toronto Blue Jays may not have won the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but this postseason did see them win a pennant and embrace a rising young star: right-hander Trey Yesavage.

It was Yesavage who helped secure a major victory in Game 5 by striking out a rookie World Series-record 12 batters across seven innings of one-run ball. In five starts in October, he amassed a 3.46 ERA and a 3.9 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also made a relief appearance in Game 7, though Toronto would lose that one in extra innings. Overall, the Blue Jays went 4-2 in contests in which he appeared. Not bad for someone who only made his pro debut earlier this year, and whose full extent of big-league experience entering the postseason was limited to three September starts.

The nature of sports, and baseball in particular, is that there's a tendency to respond to a brilliant accomplishment by a player or a team by wondering who will be the next to follow that path. You saw it with Randy Arozarena during the 2020 playoffs, and you'll absolutely see it with Yesavage.

How do we know? Because we're doing it right here, right now by highlighting three first-round pitchers from the 2025 Draft who, at least on paper, could follow Yesavage's general arc: that is, making an outsized impact for a potential World Series challenger. We acknowledge up front that the odds are against any of these pitchers doing quite this well, and that you should view the hunt for the next Yesavage as a figurative one rather than a literal one.

 Now, let's have some fun while we're young.

1. Kade Anderson, LHP, Seattle Mariners

Anderson entered the final week of the draft cycle in the running to go No. 1 overall. The Washington Nationals instead went with prep shortstop Eli Willits, and the Los Angeles Angels then picked right-hander Tyler Bremner in the biggest shock of the top five. That left Anderson to the Mariners, one of the savvier organizations at pitcher development. 

Anderson is a polished lefty with four quality pitches and the SEC stamp of approval from LSU. (He posted a 3.18 ERA and a 5.14 strikeout-to-walk ratio, marks far superior to the conference averages of 5.10 and 2.65.) The Mariners have shown they're willing to push their best young arms to the Show -- George Kirby and Logan Gilbert each had fewer than 30 minor-league starts before their MLB debuts -- and they should be in position to make another deep run into October following this year's appearance in the American League Championship Series.

2. Gage Wood, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies

Wood remained on the board until the late stages of the first round not because of lackluster talent but because of durability concerns. Across three collegiate seasons at Arkansas, he tallied just over 100 innings. Nonetheless, the Phillies were willing to take the risk and you can understand why. 

Wood has a fantastic arsenal fronted by a mid-90s fastball and two good breaking balls that he delivers from a low release height. He didn't strike out 46% of the batters he faced during his final year at school by accident. Dave Dombrowski too has a history of fast-tracking talented arms to the majors, and Wood's shaky injury history should only incentivize the Phillies to act with a greater sense of urgency here.

3. Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Boston Red Sox

Witherspoon had a tremendous platform season at Oklahoma, nearly doubling his strikeout-minus-walk percentage (from 14.1% to 25.9%) while leveraging a deep arsenal fronted by a mid-to-upper-90s fastball. Part of Yesavage's profile is the oddball release. Witherspoon's operation isn't similar in the slightest, but it's probably the funkiest of the three pitchers here, for whatever that's worth, and his abrupt arm stroke should help aid his deception. The Red Sox too have employed a liberal approach toward promoting their best pitchers. Payton Tolle made fewer than 20 minor-league starts before arriving in the majors, and Connelly Early was just over 40 before taking the mound in the American League Divisional Series.