MLB Notebook: World Series Preview

After a long journey that began in March, we’ve arrived at the last step in the Major League Baseball Season. The Los Angeles Dodgers, the defending champs and preseason favorites, were supposed to be here. The Toronto Blue Jays, after some disappointing recent years, had lost the confidence of the public back in the spring. But the Jays have redeemed themselves with their first pennant since 1993. That Toronto team won a repeat championship—something that this year’s Dodger squad is aiming to do.

A TALE OF TWO FRANCHISES

These are two franchises with very little, if any notable shared history. There’s no past October battle to point to. There are no players that are uniquely identified with both franchises—the only notable players who have put on both a Dodger and Blue Jay uniform are guys like Max Scherzer, who have played for almost everybody.

There’s not even any shared history between the two cities as sports markets generally. Nothing between the Maple Leafs and Kings in the NHL. The Raptors have never played the Lakers or Clippers in the Finals. The Buffalo Bills, the NFL’s most popular team in nearby Toronto, have nothing notable with the Rams.

In fact, the only significant connection I can find between these two cities is Kawhi Leonard leading the Raptors to an NBA championship in 2019, and then signing with the Clippers. But I think I’d really be pushing my luck if I labeled this “The Kawhi Fall Classic.”

The lack of shared franchise history or local sports culture doesn’t mean there’s no good storylines, however. In fact, the 2025 World Series has the best storyline you can ask for—a whole lot of really good baseball players and plenty of intriguing matchups worth thinking about as this unfolds for the next week or so.

TORONTO’S BATS BRING THE FIRE

The top general storyline is going to take place when the Blue Jays are in the batter’s box. Toronto spent the regular season hitting for the highest batting average in the major leagues—something the cool sabermetric kids call “bat to ball contact” and what some of us just call “hitting for contact” or “putting the ball in play”. Toronto also hit for excellent power.

Furthermore, the Blue Jays have shown they can continue to hit against the highest levels of pitching. They took apart a good New York Yankee trio of starters in Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Max Schlittler in the Division Series. The League Championship Series round saw Toronto consistently hit one of the league’s top pitching staffs from the Seattle Mariners. It’s very difficult to hit your way through October—a reason I have confidently picked against the Blue Jays in both previous rounds. But they get in the box and prove us doubters wrong over and over.

Vladdy Guerrero Jr. is the biggest reason why. The first baseman is a microcosm of his team in that he’s put some past disappointments in the rearview mirror and simply dominated. He scorched the Yankees and was the unofficial MVP of the Division Series (as chosen in this space and should be done officially by MLB). He was the official and deserved MVP of the LCS round. What Vladdy is doing reminds me of what David Ortiz did for the Boston Red Sox in 2013, where he was so hot, that you almost considered a single to be a victory for the opposing pitcher. Vladdy, like Big Papi in 2013, is getting intentionally walked in spots that a manager would normally not consider.

But as good as he’s been, Vladdy has not been alone. Everyone in the Toronto lineup, top to bottom, is swinging the bat right now. They’re so hot it’s easy to forget that Bo Bichette, their All-Star shortstop, has been out for the entire postseason. One reason is that normally light-hitting Andres Giminez, who took his place, hit two significant home runs in Seattle in the ALCS that helped turn that series around. Bichette may get some playing time in the Series, at either middle infield spot or at DH. As of this morning, that’s still up in the air and something that might give the Jays a further lift.

DODGER PITCHING FINDS ITS OCTOBER GROOVE

While Blue Jay hitting has simply played to regular season form in October, Dodger pitching is the reverse. This was Los Angeles’ Achilles heel all season long and a reason many of us were skeptical of their ability to advance. But we have to give a hat tip to Michael Edwards, a friend of TheSportsNotebook and host of the terrific baseball-card opening show Let’s Turn 2. Michael said the Dodgers just treat the regular season as a six-month spring training for October. The truth of that insight can be seen in how they’ve approached the pitching.

The complete dominance of Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani on the mound has elevated Los Angeles pitching. These three pitchers only had 43 combined starts all season long. Basically, the Dodgers stashed them all year, kept the arms rested and then unleashed in October. They join with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was already an ace-caliber starter.

Relief pitching was also a problem in Los Angeles and little reason to think it wouldn’t be in these playoffs. In fact, it was against the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild-Card Round and only the fact the Dodger bats completely unloaded kept that series from being more interesting than it was.

But the bullpen is often an area where unlikely heroes emerge in the postseason. For Los Angeles, that’s been Roki Sasaki. He’s stabilized the ninth inning. It’s far from perfect—in fact, even in their NLCS sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers, the Dodgers still nearly gave up Game 1 in the ninth. The bridge between starter and closer is less than ideal, and a possible window where Toronto bats could do some damage in this series. But thanks to Sasaki, and the complete dominance of the rested starting pitchers, that window is much smaller than it seemed even a couple of weeks ago.

So we have L.A. arms against Toronto bats. One group that’s elevated its play on the biggest stage, and the other that’s simply showing they can keep doing what they did all year. Both are red-hot. Now we find out who can keep it going.

A REVERSE DUEL

The dynamics of the reverse showdown—the Dodger bats against the Jays’ pitching is no less intriguing. On the surface, it seems that Los Angeles should have a decided advantage. They have a lineup loaded with stars—from the incomparable Ohtani, to Mookie Betts to Freddie Freeman. They have one of the league’s best hitting catchers in Will Smith. They have big-time power guys in Teoscar Hernandez and Max Muncy. The Dodgers even have Tommy Edman and Kiki Hernandez, veteran bottom-of-the-lineup guys, who have a demonstrated knack for big hits in October.

In contrast, Toronto’s pitching ranked 19^th in staff ERA all season long and while they’ve pitched well enough to win in the playoffs, there have been more than a few shaky moments.

But just like the Dodgers found an unlikely hero for the bullpen, the Jays did so for their rotation. Trey Yesavage made only three starts in the regular season and finished with a 3.21 ERA. It was nice enough for a 22-year-old to have hope for the future. There was no reason to expect what’s happened in the playoffs. Yesavage has gotten three starts and been outstanding in two of them. He beat Fried in the Yankee series. He got a must-win Game 6 against the Mariners. His splitter has wipe-out capacity. And he is the improbable Game 1 starter for the Blue Jays. Meaning he also likely gets the ball in a potential Game 5, and could be available for relief in a Game 7.

Yesavage has given hope to a rotation that is otherwise heavily dependent on ace Kevin Gausman. It’s risky for Toronto after that. Shane Bieber, just back from the injured list for the playoffs, has been so-so in his starts. While Max Scherzer was admirable in his Game 4 win in the ALCS, I’m not sure how much Toronto wants to depend on Mad Max continuing to squeeze juice out of his 42-year-old arm. The Blue Jay bullpen is respectable, but not deep.

Los Angeles hasn’t been hitting particularly well over the last two rounds. Dominant work from Gausman and Yesavage gives Toronto a potential path to victory. But Dodger hitting just looks better and deeper than Blue Jay pitching.

WHO WINS?

Los Angeles is a substantial favorite to win this Series, at (-220) in the betting markets. Between their proven track record, their advantage at the plate, and the way their pitching is surging, no one wants to go against the Dodgers.

I understand the sentiment. Right now, Los Angeles reminds me of the 1999 New York Yankees. The ’99 edition of Pinstripes wasn’t nearly as dominant as their 1998 championship squad that dominated the league. They kind of went through the regular season in workmanlike fashion—effective to be sure, but looking beatable. Then, In October, they snapped to, tore through the postseason with an 11-1 record and won a repeat title. That’s what the Dodgers feel like right now.

Toronto probably deserves a little more respect than the (-220) price. They have a realistic path to win, if Gausman and Yesavage are great and the bats can even come close to matching the first two rounds. But there are more realistic paths on the Los Angeles side. The predictions we make in this space have been vintage coin-flip stuff to this point (15-15 on preseason Over/Unders and 5-5 in postseason series), so it all comes down to this. I have to ride with the Dodgers in six, which would make them the first repeat champ since the 2000 Yankees completed a three-peat. 

This space will return whenever the World Series ends to recap it. In the meantime, do you want more postseason history while we watch this year’s Fall Classic unfold? Our free LCS Chronicles Vol. 1 (1969–80) PDF tells the stories of classic October battles that built today’s playoffs.