Neil Malik
Blue Jays vs. Dodgers: Who's winning the World Series?
Photo by Jordan Smysnuik / The Level
The Topline
- The Toronto Blue Jays are American League champions for the first time in 32 years, and they now face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
- The Dodgers won the National League pennant for the second straight year after knocking off the Milwaukee Brewers in a four-game sweep
Jays in six, in the Six
If you’d asked anyone back in March whether the Blue Jays would win the World Series, they’d likely have spit their water. Oddsmakers ranked the Blue Jays in the bottom third of all MLB teams to win it all this year.
Yet here we are: the Blue Jays are four wins away from their first World Series title since 1993 to take on the Dodgers. As Alex Rodriguez put it ,: it’s not David vs. Goliath. It’s Goliath vs. Goliath.
All season long, the Jays overcame real obstacles to prove the naysayers wrong, showing that every time you think they’re out of juice, they come through with a big hero moment .
Their big off-season signing, Anthony Santander, spent most of the year injured. Bo Bichette was sidelined in September with a knee injury. The rotation ranked 22nd in ERA. In August, closer Jeff Hoffman was allowing 1.98 home runs per nine innings, second-worst in the majors. They lost six of seven in September and barely held off the New York Yankees to win the AL East pennant.
Despite all that, the Jays came alive in October and crushed the postseason thanks to outstanding defence, the resurgence of George Springer, opportunistic bottom-third bats, and most importantly, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reminding everyone why he’s worth $500 million.
They were the comeback kids in 2025, with 49 comeback wins, most in Major League Baseball. After losing two games at home to the Seattle Mariners, it looked hopeless. They had about a two-in-10 chance of winning the ALCS, yet they pulled it off.
In 2025, they’ve been the hot hand that won’t go away, no matter how bleak it looks. If anyone can beat the Dodgers, it’s this group.
The Shohei Show
The Los Angeles Dodgers are big favourites to win the World Series for good reason.
Shohei Ohtani is a generational talent who steals the spotlight, and rightly so. His Game 4 in the NLCS was perhaps the best postseason performance in baseball history: he pitched six innings and allowed no runs, while also hitting three home runs for the Dodgers. Insanity.
But that’s not all. Behind Ohtani, there’s Mookie Betts. Behind Betts, there’s Freddie Freeman. You get the idea…
The Blue Jays’ starting rotation is going to be up against it with this lineup. And once John Schneider goes to his bullpen, which has been their Achilles heel, Jays fans across Canada will light a candle and hope for the best.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ pitchers have been outstanding . This September, they posted one of the highest monthly strikeout rates ever and were tied for among the lowest opponent slugging marks of the Divisional Era.
In the playoffs, they’ve also kept bats quiet –third-lowest OPS (.531) and second-lowest slugging (.269) among postseason teams that played at least seven games since 1969. Translation: opponents rarely got on base—and when they did, they didn’t hit for power.
Don’t get me wrong: the Jays’ lineup this postseason has been elite. This month, they’ve hit fastballs better than anyone. The Dodgers, however, tend to stay off heaters and lean into off-speed and breaking balls.
All in all, if any team can cool the Jays’ bats and win the World Series, it’s the Dodgers.
