2025 World Series: Starting pitchers take different routes to Game 1
by Mark Langill
Trey Yesavage looked every bit the picture of a wide-eyed rookie on the eve of his Game 1 start against the Dodgers on Friday at the Rogers Centre.
The opposing starting pitcher will be Blake Snell, who, although a decade older than Yesavage, still sounds like a rookie, eagerly chasing his first championship ring.
In the span of one month, Yesavage has catapulted from making his Major League debut on Sept. 15 to starting Toronto’s first World Series game since 1993.
The right-hander was Toronto’s first-round draft pick in 2024 from East Carolina University. He made history as the pitcher with the fewest career starts (three) to start a postseason game with his team facing elimination in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners.
He is also the first rookie to start Game 1 of a World Series since 2006, when rookies Anthony Reyes (Cardinals) and Justin Verlander (Tigers) opposed one another in a game won by the Cardinals 7–2.
At age 22 years and 88 days, he will be the second-youngest pitcher to start in a World Series since the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Ralph Branca (21 years, 267 days) in 1947.
Yesavage said he hugged his manager after John Schneider delivered the news in his office on Thursday. The one-month Major Leaguer then fielded topics at his press conference, ranging from representing Canada to explaining his unique over-the-top pitching delivery.
Snell, meanwhile, is focused on winning the first title of his 10-year career. He had a near miss when the Dodgers defeated his Tampa Bay Rays in six games in the 2020 World Series.
In his first season with the Dodgers, Snell’s hot October in 2025 coincided with baseball’s biggest stage, although he’s not sure to which setting he will perform. Snell, 32, wonders whether the retractable roof at the Toronto ballpark will be open or closed for Game 1, explaining that the resulting “vibe” affects both pitchers and hitters.
In Snell’s last start, Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Milwaukee on Oct. 13, he became the first pitcher to face the minimum 24 batters in the first eight innings of a postseason game since the Yankees’ Don Larsen during his perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.
Snell struck out 10 batters in eight scoreless innings in a 2–1 victory, the first of an eventual four-game sweep of the Brewers.
In three postseason starts in 2025, Snell is 3–0 with a 0.86 ERA, including 28 strikeouts, five walks, and scattering six hits in 21 innings.
“It’s feeling good, but I can get better,” Snell said on Thursday. “I know I can. It’s just learning, reading swings, seeing what they want to do, seeing if they’re going to be aggressive or patient.
“But I really believe I’m just getting better every start. I’m learning, I’m locked in, and I’m chasing the best version of me.”
Now, Snell hopes to keep the Dodgers’ traveling road show in high gear.
The Dodgers, who are 9–1 in the postseason against Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Milwaukee, are 4–0 on the road.
Tip of the cap: When the Blue Jays courted Shohei Ohtani as a free agent after the 2023 season, Schneider gave Ohtani a Toronto cap during his visit. Before their reunion on opposing sides in the 2025 World Series, Schneider joked that Ohtani never returned the cap.
Ohtani was asked on Thursday if he still has the souvenir.
“It’s in my garage,” he said, through interpreter Will Ireton.
Until Ohtani announced his decision to sign with the Dodgers, there were some tense moments in Southern California when some media reports indicated Ohtani was about to sign with Toronto.
“I really had a wonderful time getting to know them,” Ohtani said of the Blue Jays. “The impression I got was they were very top class. Awesome people. And so now, in the circumstance that we get to play them, it’s something I’m really looking forward to.”
Mookie’s call to the Hall: With a chance to win his fourth career World Series ring, shortstop Mookie Betts was nostalgic on Thursday when recalling meeting Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter for the first time.
Jeter, won five World Series with the Yankees, remains an inspiration to Betts, who switched from right field when the Dodgers suddenly needed a shortstop in 2024.
Asked about his growing pains at a new position, Betts said the most important lesson he learned was having grace and patience with himself.
“It sounds weird, but whenever you learn anything new, you have to go through a process,” Betts said. “Obviously, it’s different for everybody. For me, I had to be patient with myself because I want to get things fast.”
Betts is a finalist for a 2025 Gold Glove Award at shortstop, but the real reward is enjoying the position he once dreamed of playing in the Major Leagues.
“At first, it was like work,” Betts said. “I had to make sure I took care of my job. But now it’s so fun for me to go out and play short. I don’t know that I’ve really experienced this part of the fun in the game. Not that playing right field wasn’t fun, it was just different.”
And what keeps Betts motivated after so many playoff appearances? He wants to join Jeter in the Hall of Fame someday.
2025 World Series: Starters take different routes to Game 1 was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.