It might be easy to forget that Trey Yesavage and Kazuma Okamoto are MLB rookies, but officially, that’s the case.
It also means that despite the fact Yesavage helped propel the team all the way to the World Series last year, and that Okamoto played 10 years of professional baseball in Japan, they’re both still subject to rookie hazing traditions.
That was the case this past weekend in Chicago, when the two stars were among a group of Jays rookies sent on a coffee run for the team.
The group was spotted by a photographer who posted several photos of the players carrying trays of drinks and treats from a Starbucks location near Wrigley Field in the Windy City.
Alongside Yesavage and Okamato were Yohendrick Pinango, Spencer Miles and Charles McAdoo. The players were fairly easy to spot in the crowd – they stood out like sore thumbs wearing their full Blue Jays uniforms for the outing.
According to Cory Sechrest, who documented the adventure, the rookie coffee run tradition began in 2014, when the Los Angeles Dodgers sent Joc Pederson to Starbucks to pick up refreshments.
Earlier this year, the Astros posted a video of their crew of rookies taking orders in the clubhouse before heading out to pick them up.
How have the rookies been playing?
Yesavage has followed up his tremendous playoff run with a solid start to his official rookie season. He has posted a record of 3-3 with a 3.76 ERA while striking out 53 batters in 55 innings.
He didn’t pitch in Chicago, and his next start is slated for Wednesday night against the visiting Houston Astros.
As for Okamoto, he has adapted well in his first season in North America. He leads the team in both home runs (16) and RBIs (45), while his 62 hits rank third on the Jays behind Ernie Clement and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
He also has a chance to make the AL all-star team next month. After Monday’s MLB fan voting update, Okamoto ranked second behind Rays’ Junior Caminero, trailing by just over 28,000 votes.