The 2025 World Series started Friday, Oct. 24, but the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers and wild-horsed Toronto Blue Jays already delivered a roller coaster of a Fall Classic. Baseball’s best athletes — ranging from Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to Dodgers designated hitter and pitcher Shohei Ohtani — are playing in the seven-game series where the first team to reach four wins gaining the title of the 2025 season.
How did each team get to this point? Los Angeles moved its way through playoffs by defeating the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card series, beating the Philadelphia Phillies three games to one in the Division Series and then infamously sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series (NLCS).
Game Four of the NLCS was arguably the highlight of this year’s postseason thus far because of no one other than the mind-breaking Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani took up the mound and put up a game for the ages: He pitched through six full innings, allowing just three walks, two hits and zero runs, while putting up an impressive ten strikeouts — his most as a Dodger. Even more impressively, Ohtani continued to rake in the batter’s box, blasting three solo home runs and drawing one walk in the process. His performance awarded him the 2025 NLCS MVP award and is likely one of the best postseason baseball has ever witnessed.
National League teams aren’t the only ones making headlines. The American League has also made its impact clear on this year’s playoffs. The Blue Jays took the win in the American League Championship Series over the Seattle Mariners, leading the team to their first World Series since 1993. The Blue Jays played a full seven-game series, led by Guerrero, who was later awarded American League Championship Series MVP. In the seven games, Guerrero hit a .385 batting average with 10 hits, three home runs, three RBIs and six runs.
Due to their regular season record, the Blue Jays entered the playoffs with a first-round bye and went on to defeat 2024 American League pennant winners, the New York Yankees, three games to one. The team then handled the aforementioned Mariners, who were playing for what would have been their first World Series appearance. However, victory was not on Seattle’s side, though regular season American League MVP-candidate Cal Raleigh, amongst many other Mariners’ stars, worked until the last second.
So, with the stage set between the Dodgers and Blue Jays, who will win the final match-up of the year? Both teams come with their strengths and weaknesses: The Dodgers’ greatest asset throughout the postseason has been their starting rotation. Comprised of pitchers including two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell and three-time Eiji Sawamura Award (the Japanese baseball league’s highest pitching honor) winner Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers have been nothing but dominant in their outings thus far. In the NLCS against the Brewers, Snell threw eight innings of shutout baseball while Yamamoto pitched a complete game, only allowing one run in the process.
Other starting pitchers for the Dodgers, including Tyler Glasnow and Ohtani, have also put up their fair share of first-rate outings, but it’s the bullpen that Los Angeles has been struggling with. Manager Dave Roberts has worked around this problem by turning some starters into temporary relievers, such as Emmet Sheehan, Clayton Kershaw and Roki Sasaki to create a stronger relief system.
The Blue Jays’ pitching is perhaps not their strongest suit, but under-the-radar pitchers like Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage have been getting the job done for Toronto. Toronto’s bullpen has been considerably better than Los Angeles’ throughout October, as relievers like Louis Varland, Seranthony Dominguez, and closer Jeff Hoffman have been putting in the work. Throughout the Blue Jays’ first thirteen postseason games — including the first two games of the World Series — Varland already made 11 respectable pitching appearances.
The Blue Jays batting order is where the team shines through, however. The core of the Blue Jay’s lineup has been a slugging machine: Stars including outfielders George Springer and Daulton Varsho, catcher Alejandro Kirk and first baseman Guerrero have hit a combined 23 home runs and 83 runs so far in the postseason (as of Oct. 26), features of a batting machine that shows no signs of stopping.
Ahead of the World Series, manager of the Blue Jays John Schneider commented on the David-versus-Goliath underdog narrative surrounding the competition.
“There’s a reason we are here and there’s a reason they’re there,” Schneider said. “I think the one thing we cannot do is look over there and say that is Goliath … That is a beatable baseball team that has its flaws and that has its really, really good strengths.”
Manager Dave Roberts of the Dodgers, who is now managing his fifth World Series, responded to Schneider.
“We got really good players, they got really good players. So the great thing about baseball is anything can happen,” Roberts said.
Roberts is surrounded by a staff of MVPs, Gold Glove Winners and Silver Sluggers, but, as he knows, there are an infinite number of ways a seven-game series can play out.
Editor’s Note: As of Oct. 28, the Dodgers lead the series 2-1. The Blue Jays won Game 1 by a score of 11-4, but the Dodgers came back to take Game 2 with a 5-1 victory. The Dodgers won Game 3 in dramatic fashion, with a walk-off home run in the 18th inning. Game 4 is scheduled for Oct. 28 and Game 5 will take place at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 29. If the Blue Jays win one of the next two, the series will head back to Toronto for Game 6 on Oct. 31.
