OverDrive - Dempster on Trey Yesavage's injury, the gauntlet that is the AL East, and if George Springer is poised for another big season

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

Former MLB Pitcher and Co-Host of Intentional Talk Ryan Dempster on his level of concern for the Blue Jays’ recent list of injuries, if Trey Yesavage’s lengthy playoff push contributed to his shoulder impingement, what to expect from Cody Ponce, the gauntlet that is the AL East, and if George Springer has another dominant season under his belt.

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Longtime MLB pitcher, the pride of British Columbia, the co-host of intentional talk. Ryan Dempster back on overdrive. What's up, Ryan? How are we doing? I'm doing great, guys. How are you guys doing? We're doing all right.

We're talking about the Toronto Blue Jays. Certainly a lot of optimism heading in the season, but I'm sure you've seen the rash of injuries they're dealing with when it comes to the starting pitchers, Berrios, Bieber, and now you Savage. What would your level of concern be at this point in time? Nice to have depth, isn't it? I think that's really important in this time of year

because you don't have to try and rush guys and you can take your time and make sure that they're going to be healthy and helping you throughout the season. I mean, kind of a formula has changed a little bit. I think just with the evolution of pitching now, teams that have a lot of depth can afford to have guys out. We saw that with teams that made it, you know, won the World Series. The Dodgers do that as good as anybody. Obviously, they have the finances, but they go ahead and do it and back it up. So, yeah, I'm not super concerned start of the year, you know, but also you just want,

number one thing that's it i don't care of a guy hits a ball hard all spring training is he break camp healthy same with pitchers so we'll see what happens when it comes to you savage uh you think about this kid he had an incredible rise last year you don't see it very often ryan where a guy goes from low a all the way to the major league baseball playoffs and then the world series and and becomes you know an essential piece of the team all in one year um and now we see he's down with the shoulder and pinchment and they're going to take it slow as you say But what would your level of concern be that it was a bit of an unnatural progression? Like they asked too much from him last year, and that is now sort of the bill is coming due for that this year.

Is that something that we should worry about, or is this something that, you know, doesn't concern you? No, I think the worry and concern is that when we train guys in the minor leagues to not withstand a season like that, from a physical standpoint and what that takes in the grind, when asked to do it, it can present problems. You know, where it's like, okay, well, but now we need you to go ahead and, you know, throw 100 plus pitches, or now we need you to be out there and extending your season, whereas in the minor leagues,

we monitor everything so highly where it's like, you know, pitch counts and pitch limits and all that kind of stuff. And can't throw on this many days and let's give them an extra turn in the rotation and a lot of protectiveness, but I don't necessarily think A works. And B, I don't think it definitely doesn't work when you ask a guy that all of a sudden then turn on something that he hasn't really done his whole career. So, yeah, I hope that it encourages teams.

Like, I love what he did last year, but it has ramifications for this year, right? And how you build them up in spring training. So anytime you hear any word like that, it's always scary. But at the same time, I think more than ever, teams are very, take a very precautionary route, especially when it comes to young talented players like Trent. Ryan, when it comes to spring training results and what they mean for the regular season, do you think a batter's results in spring training would carry over more often or a pitcher's results would carry over more often?

That's a good question. I think sometimes a batter's, you know, spring training can last like into that beginning part of that season, you know? Sometimes you see a guy here's a problem that presents itself. A guy comes in the camp trying to win a job, right? goes out there. Maybe it's just like the 26th guy on the roster. Maybe not. Maybe it's the backup in-field or whatever.

And he has a great spring. But then the season starts and he doesn't play. So then all of a sudden the time, the timing gets affected a little bit and it goes away. And then all of a sudden, like, man, he had a really great spring. Don't know what happened. Well, the only starts he got off were two reigning Cyang Award winners. So he's kind of, you know, it's all like, it just depends. And I think for the most part, you know, if a ball's coming out of a pitcher's hand really well,

and the velocity's there, and there's a break on the breaking ball that you're looking for, that spin and that shape on the breaking ball. I think results in spring training don't really matter. It's the stuff there. I think that those can quickly shift come regular season and a guy can dominate when it matters rather than when it doesn't. What's your take on what to expense from Cody Ponce? Because he comes back from a lengthy stint in Korean baseball,

hasn't been in the major leagues, in a few years, and obviously they're betting big on him. He's got to come through for them. He's going to be a member of their five-man rotation right out of the gate here. Coming back from Korea, Ryan, in your experience watching guys do it,

what is sort of the what's sort of the downside sort of yin and yang on that? Is there a way you can look at that that gives you any sort of indication of what we might expect? Yeah, I think sometimes it's going overseas.

whether it's Korea or Japan for some guys I think it gives them an opportunity to find themselves we've seen it in the past I remember I play with Kobe Lewis in Texas he was the guy that went over

and then came back Miles Michaelis like I know there's more that I'm forgetting but it happens a lot where you know maybe a guy is you know

labeled as something and then every team that has him just tries to tries to I don't know find help him find it

rather than him find himself if it makes sense you know where you get an opportunity to just be like okay let me just let me try something here and see if it works and all of a sudden you find something that works and if the numbers are there and the metrics are there and now you have confidence behind that and development in yourself as a pitcher yeah man why not be successful i think there's been a ton of guys that have gone over done that and come back and been successful and you know it's a different look than guys might have seen before so i think it's you know a good pickup and the potential to really be something that could help

Blue Jays in a big way. Ryan Dempster here on Overdrive. So when it comes to the American League East as a whole, clearly Cody Ponce, guys like Scherzer will be huge for the Toronto Blue Jays, and we've seen Boston make some big additions over the offseason, certainly Baltimore. The Yankees are going to be tough.

How do you see this division playing out with the season on the horizon? Yeah, right on, hey? That's what you want, like just like boxing match. Let's go. Good teams, good teams getting after it. Don't sleep on Tampa Bay. You know what I mean? Like, it's just going to be a good division like it has been.

And I think, you know, that was kind of how it was for a long time. The ALE East was like, that's where you went to go get your ERA inflated. You know? Absolutely. Yeah. And so, like, why not kind of have that back again and these really good teams that are going to go out there? And, you know, to me, I look at the division. I go, hey, man, the Blue Jays, in my opinion are the favorite.

But you mentioned, like, the Red Sox. You talk about quality pitching. you know, when you have guys in top of rotation like Gara Crochet and then you got Peyton Tully who's like this young stud and they just got a lot a lot there on the pitching side can they score enough runs? I mean, that's going to be the question. But, you know, the Yankees are the Yankees. It's just fun watching. I love it. I do. I don't want to see some team that just runs away with the division. I love when there's competitiveness like this. I love when I see a brawl, go ahead, clear the benches against each other, you know, like, I don't know, start something at a

restaurant one night with the other team, just for fun. Are you speaking for experience? Is that something? That sounds like you've been involved in something like. You ever get into some fisticuffs with members of opposing teams at any point during your MLB career? No, no, no, I didn't, especially not off the field. I always marveled at hockey players by that for that.

Like, they could fight in their own practice, but then they're drinking beer at the bar and they're exactly right. That's a different culture, I guess. Hey, Ryan, Ryan, one of the optimistic view of the Blue Jays is, hey, they're the reigning World Series finalists, look what they did last year, why can't they do it again?

The other outlook on that is, hey, what are the odds they do it again, given the fact that they had so many guys that overachieved by any measure, including the guy that in a lot of ways was the engine that drove the vehicle in George Springer at age 36. When you look at the Renaissance season, Springer had last year and then you think about, hey, he's got to do it again, he's not getting

any younger. I mean, what are the odds in your mind that he can sort of keep some sort of a reasonable facsimile of that year going? Yeah, I think health determines that. I think he's healthy. I think we find ourselves at that age. We start to like all of a sudden accept who we are and honestly like, you know, George's overcome things in his life, you know, off the field, right? And how do you know, go through some tough times and like, you know, when it deals with like the stuttering issue and going through all that speech stuff

and now he puts himself on a platform that automatically is something that you you're overcoming and confidence-wise, right? And baseball was always a way to do that. And then all of a sudden you just become like the veteran and then you just know you're a badass. Like he knows he's bad. He knows he's a bad dude. He knows the dudes are afraid if they hang a breaking ball

that he's parking one in the seat. Like, you start to realize that, and that's a fun feeling to have, because then now you're working on, I've got to maintain I'm healthy and stay healthy. And if I do that, I know I'm going to go out there and put the numbers up. And more than that, I just know I'm going to have the respect that I'm going to do damage if you make a mistake. And I'm also going to hit good pitching. Like, he's just one of those guys to me that has gotten better and better and has the ability to sustain that for a couple years. And also, by the way, if he doesn't, it's just, it's okay, like other guys got to step up. But it might be 25 homers, and it might be 80 RBIs.

But when you're throwing out at the top of the lineup, you just want him out on the field every day. He makes everybody else around him better. And I think he's just coming into his own later in his career as a guy who just now knows he's, he's one of the bad dudes out there. As are you, my man. Thank you so much for doing this. We really appreciate it.

Have yourself a great weekend. Yeah, you too. Absolutely. Let's go. One week away. I cannot wait. I know. Less than a week.

I know. Almost there. Thank you so much for the time. That is Ryan Dempster, longtime MLB pitcher from Intentional Talk, who's fired off for baseball. I think there's a lot of people in the city of Toronto, Dave,

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