Baseball has finally arrived at its last stop for the 2025 season: The World Series.
This year’s final series is already going to be a memorable one, with the Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the Toronto Blue Jays. Los Angeles swept the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League championship series, led by a dominant pitching rotation and enough offensive output. The Blue Jays rode the back of outfielder George Springer’s towering game seven home run in the seventh inning.
What’s happening here is a classic setup of an offense that has been unstoppable for most of the postseason against a pitching staff that is largely unchallenged. It’s truly a World Series matchup that can go either way, a common theme we’ve seen this postseason.
What fans saw in the NLCS wasn’t just domination; it was an outright shutdown against what was one of the more well-rounded teams in baseball. If the Dodgers’ rotation is healthy and ready to roll, it’s an untouchable squad that can win back-to-back World Series.
Blake Snell, their top acquisition of the 2024-25 offseason, tossed eight innings of one-hit ball, notching 10 strikeouts in game one. The next night, Yoshinobu Yamamoto tossed a complete game, striking out seven while only surrendering a home run. Both of those pitchers combined held Milwaukee to a sub-.100 batting average and an OPS lower than .300.
Tyler Glasnow, who also had injury problems for most of the season, tossed 5.2 innings of three-hit ball. He was taken out early after running into some trouble in the top of the sixth, something Alex Vesia was able to handle. Then, in game four, Shohei Ohtani did things only he can with a three-home-run game and striking out 10 over six innings.
There were serious concerns about how this rotation would perform against the Brewers, who were more formidable than the Cincinnati Reds. Injuries also took away a lot of valuable playing time from Glasnow, Snell, Roki Sasaki, and other bullpen players. Any concerns were wiped away from the conversation following this.
Overall, Milwaukee failed to do anything on the bases, slugging a measly .118/.191/.384 with only one home run. They struck out over 35% of the time and were clearly outmatched despite respectable performances from Freddy Peralta, Jacob Misiorowski and Aaron Ashby.
Los Angeles didn’t even need a good offensive showing to make themselves present for the World Series.
The last three years for Toronto have been outright frustrating, to say the least. Getting swept in the Wild Card series in 2022 and 2023, before collapsing to a 74-88 record in 2024. This ALCS win was a long time coming and a well-deserved one as well.
It wasn’t enough that the Blue Jays eviscerated the Yankees three games to one in the division series with nine home runs. It wasn’t enough that they kept their strikeout rate below 20% in the ALDS with a .974 OPS either. The train kept on rolling throughout the pennant series.
Toronto slugged 11 home runs over seven games, while slugging 14 doubles for a .275/.345/.820 slashline. The Blue Jays crushed the Seattle Mariners’ starting pitching outside of Bryce Miller and easily handled the bullpen outside of Andres Munoz. It’s a shock when you consider the Mariners had full control of the series after the first two games, outscoring Toronto 13-4.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. cemented himself in Blue Jays lore with a .385/.484/1.330 slash line and three home runs, giving him MVP honors. George Springer, who everyone knows as a clutch postseason performer, hit the biggest home run in Toronto since 1993. Even when Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk struggled, the team rallied around and struck at every opportunity.
Seattle did everything it needed to offensively to try and win, slugging 14 home runs and getting on base at a .315 clip. The strikeouts killed this team, whiffing nearly 33% of the time; essentially, one at-bat every inning was unproductive. Julio Rodriguez, who hit three home runs and finally returned to rookie form, made his frustrations known after the game.
Three of the Mariners’ staples in the lineup, including Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, and Josh Naylor, had an OPS over 1.000. Outside of Eugenio Suarez, though, half the lineup had trouble getting something off Blue Jays pitching. They were this close to going to the World Series for the first time, and one bad pitch by Eduard Bazardo sealed their fate.
There’s no other objective more important than this: The Blue Jays must stop Shohei Ohtani in the World Series. Los Angeles’ repeat hopes rest with him among other players, but no one is more valuable than he on the roster. Letting Ohtani run roughshod against a rotation and lineup is a sure way to lose.
The problem is that Shohei Ohtani hits everything. There is not a single pitch he struggles with outside of a sweeper, but that’s a stretch within itself. At the same time, his pitches are effective, keeping hitters under .250 on most pitches. He does struggle with sinkers and cutters, but those pitches are rare to see from him. Ohtani is really, really good at baseball.
The best thing Toronto can do is intentionally walk him to death or try to be very smart with their pitch selection. Still, it’s a tall order.
A second consecutive championship lies within the rotation, continuing their dominance against opposing lineups. Toronto is a far different lineup than Milwaukee, featuring a combination of veteran experience and youthful power. Where the Brewers lacked cohesion in the middle of the lineup, the Blue Jays have enough of it.
It’s also important to note whether Bo Bichette returns to the lineup before the start of the World Series. If he does, it’s an indescribable boost for the Toronto offense. The Dodgers cannot allow the Blue Jays to hit all over their pitching, especially at Rogers Centre. They also need to do better than Seattle did in the strikeout department, far better than striking out 15% of Toronto batters.
They also must limit the Blue Jays’ ability to use home runs to their advantage. A 1.1 home run rate over nine in the season can easily spell disaster in the postseason, especially if someone in the rotation has a poor outing.
Like most of the postseason has been, this can go either way depending on who gets their goals done first. Both teams have immense strengths, but also have flaws that can be exposed with the right strategies. It’s really going to be a battle of who exploits them first and who goes the hardest.
Los Angeles had a slump earlier this season, but rebounded greatly. Toronto has fought hard and is battle-tested to its core. This will be a series that likely goes to six or seven games, but look for the Blue Jays to pull off the unthinkable at Rogers Centre.
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