by Megan Garcia
The Dodgers and Blue Jays will face each other for the first time ever in the Fall Classic. They arrived at the final series of the year in different ways.
After the Dodgers swept the Brewers in the National League Championship Series, they watched as the Blue Jays forced a Game 7 against the Mariners for the American League pennant.
Pitching has been a dominating force for the Dodgers throughout the postseason. It’s carried them to a 9–1 record through three rounds.
There’s a potential key to the series that may ignite the Dodger offense. The Blue Jays carried 10 right-handed pitchers (most notably starters Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber) on the ALCS roster, which is a handedness several Dodgers have better numbers against as opposed to facing a left-hander.
The Blue Jays have relied on their offense to get them to the World Series. Their lineup is batting .296 and has clubbed 20 home runs in 11 postseason games. Toronto pitching has a 4.36 ERA in the postseason, thus far.
Recently…
The Blue Jays fought back from a 0–2 series deficit against the Mariners to beat them in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. This is their first American League pennant since 1993.
Toronto slashed .271/.345/.475/.820 in the series while outscoring Seattle 37–30. The Blue Jays offense had the best strikeout percentage among all League Championship Series teams at 14.8%.
George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. powered the Blue Jays, with three home runs each, to their first World Series since 1993. Springer hit the go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning in Game 7 to give Toronto its first and only lead in the game.
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Guerrero was named the ALCS Most Valuable Player after he slashed .385/.484/.846/.1.330. He struck out only twice in 31 plate appearances.
Blue Jays pitchers had a 5.16 ERA against the Mariners and recorded 71 combined strikeouts in 62 innings. Their starters gave up seven of the 14 home runs hit by Seattle in the series.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, surrendered one home run in their four-game sweep of the Brewers. The Los Angeles pitching staff had a 1.00 ERA (four earned runs in 36 innings) during the National League Championship Series.
Dodger starters accounted for 28 2/3 innings in the NLCS and sported a 0.63 ERA. They also recorded 35 of the 41 strikeouts against Milwaukee.
Shohei Ohtani was named the NLCS MVP after a historic Game 4 start as he struck out 10 batters in six innings and hit three home runs.
Season Series…
The Dodgers won two out of three games against the Blue Jays in the regular season. They averaged six runs per game as they outscored Toronto 18–7 in the series.
Blake Snell and Clayton Kershaw were the winning pitchers in the series as they combined for 11 innings and one earned run. Throughout the series, the Blue Jays slashed .240/.309/.420/.729 and struck out 35 times against Dodger pitchers.
The Dodgers slashed .268/.415/.474/.889 and hit five home runs against Toronto. Los Angeles scored 14 runs against right-handed starters in the series.
Ohtani went 7-for-13 (.538) with two home runs in the series. Mookie Betts went 5-for-14 (.357) against Toronto.
Strength vs. Strength
This time, pitching and hitting will be at center stage.
The Blue Jays led baseball with a .265 batting average and .333 on-base percentage. The Dodger rotation has been historic behind their 1.40 ERA and 33.5% strikeout rate in the postseason.
Blake Snell will be the Dodgers’ Game 1 starter, once again. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will follow him in Game 2. Los Angeles is 5–1 when they take the mound during this October run.
Between them, they limited the Brewers to two runs on five hits through the first two games of the NLCS.
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Snell threw five scoreless innings against the Blue Jays on Aug. 9 at Dodger Stadium. He struck out 10 batters on 90 pitches.
Snell has allowed two earned runs in 21 innings in the postseason.
Yamamoto didn’t face Toronto in the regular season.
Ohtani’s and Tyler Glasnow’s starts in the series are still to be determined.
The Blue Jays have three hitters who are batting above .300 in the postseason — one of them being Guerrero, who is hitting .442/.510/.930/1.440.
Utility infielder Ernie Clement has proved to be a tough out with two strikeouts in 45 postseason at-bats. He’s hitting .429 with four extra-base hits between the ALDS and ALCS.
The Blue Jays haven’t announced their starters yet for the series. Rookie Trey Yesavage has been a bright spot in Toronto’s pitching. He struck out seven batters and allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings in Game 6 of the NLCS.
Los Angeles’ Top Starters vs. Blue Jays in ’25:
- Blake Snell: five innings pitched, three hits, 10 strikeouts
- Tyler Glasnow: 5 2/3 innings pitched, four hits, eight strikeouts
Toronto’s Top Hitters vs. Dodgers in ’25:
- Daulton Varsho: 3-for-8, four walks
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 3-for-11, one home run, two doubles, two RBI
- Ernie Clement: 3-for-12, two home runs, two RBI
2025 World Series: Dodgers and Blue Jays arrive at the Fall Classic by different strengths was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.