After two action-packed video games at Rogers Centre in Toronto, the 2025 World Sequence shifts to Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium for Sport 3 on Monday evening.
Will coming house assist the Dodgers take management or will the Blue Jays regain the Sequence lead on the street? What has impressed us most up to now, and what should every staff do to take management of the collection from right here?
Our MLB consultants break down what we have seen up to now and what it means for the remainder of this Fall Traditional.
Who’s the two-game MVP of this World Sequence — and can he win the award when all is alleged and completed?
Jorge Castillo: Addison Barger’s grand slam in Sport 1 will probably be remembered in Canada for a really very long time, however what Yoshinobu Yamamoto achieved in Sport 2 might need saved the Dodgers’ title hopes. The best-hander was totally dominant once more, turning into the primary pitcher since Curt Schilling in 2001 to toss consecutive full video games within the postseason. The Dodgers should keep away from overexposing their bullpen. Yamamoto ensured that occurred in Sport 2.
Jeff Passan: Yamamoto is the early favourite and has the within monitor, although that will depend on how deep the collection goes. At earliest, Yamamoto would begin Sport 6 — and that may come on 5 days’ relaxation, which he final had going into his first full recreation in opposition to Milwaukee within the Nationwide League Championship Sequence. Do not sleep on Will Smith, although. A go-ahead homer in Sport 2. Nice at-bats. No strikeouts within the first two video games. On the Blue Jays’ facet, Alejandro Kirk’s stalwart Sport 1 and large protection give him a stable basis on which he can construct.
Alden Gonzalez: I am going to go together with Smith, who guided Yamamoto via his Sport 2 masterpiece and, together with Kirk, has been the perfect offensive performer via these first two video games. Smith’s impression is very notable given (1) the hairline fracture he was nonetheless recovering from coming into these playoffs and (2) how clearly worn down he was by this level final yr. The Dodgers promoted rookie Dalton Speeding sooner than anticipated this season in an effort to maintain Smith recent down the stretch. A late-season hand harm may have derailed these plans, however Smith appears to be at his greatest in the intervening time — an important improvement for a Dodgers offense that has struggled as a complete because the wild-card spherical.
What stunned you most throughout the first two video games in Toronto, and may we anticipate it to proceed in Los Angeles?
Castillo: The Blue Jays’ bullpen — broadly considered a major weak spot — persevering with to log high quality innings. Toronto’s aid corps allowed 4 runs over 7⅓ innings over the primary two video games. Two of these runs got here after the Blue Jays constructed an 11-2 lead in Sport 1, on a house run from Shohei Ohtani. They weren’t lights-out performances, however they had been encouraging as Toronto appears to be like to piece collectively three extra wins.
Passan: The mediocrity on the high of Los Angeles’ lineup. Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are a mixed 4-for-21 with 4 runs and two RBIs — each of which got here from a garbage-time Ohtani homer within the Sport 1 blowout. It hasn’t been a very nice postseason for any of the Dodgers’ stars. Ohtani’s six house runs are wonderful, in fact, however he is 5-for-43 with 19 strikeouts in his different at-bats. Betts is homerless and has scored solely three runs in 12 video games. Final yr, Freeman entered the World Sequence with one RBI — after which drove in 12 in opposition to New York. This yr, Freeman entered the World Sequence with one RBI — and did not knock in a run in both recreation in opposition to Toronto.
Gonzalez: The dealing with of Bo Bichette — that he began Sport 1 at second base, a place he’d by no means performed within the main leagues, and, to a lesser extent, that he wasn’t within the lineup for Sport 2. Bichette has spent these previous seven weeks recovering from a left knee sprain, and although he is clearly not but totally healed, he has confirmed to be viable nonetheless, even coming into within the late levels of Sport 2. The Blue Jays clearly needed Bichette within the lineup for Sport 1 in opposition to a lefty in Blake Snell. And although the remainder of the Dodgers’ rotation is right-handed, Bichette is clearly going to issue into this collection. Blue Jays supervisor John Schneider stated he’ll be within the lineup in opposition to Tyler Glasnow in Sport 3, which follows a time without work.
What do you anticipate from beginning pitchers Max Scherzer and Tyler Glasnow in Sport 3?
Castillo: Glasnow will proceed his postseason success at house, whereas Scherzer can have a harder time in his return to Los Angeles 4 years after pitching within the postseason for the Dodgers. Glasnow has held opponents to at least one run over 11⅔ innings in his two playoff begins — each at Dodger Stadium. In August, he restricted Toronto to 2 runs on 4 hits throughout 5⅔ innings in Los Angeles. On the opposite facet, Scherzer delivered an important efficiency for the Blue Jays in Sport 4 of the American League Championship Sequence in Seattle together with his staff trailing 2-1 within the collection. The Dodgers’ offense has largely struggled within the playoffs, however it’s solely a matter of time earlier than it erupts. It’s going to be a stiff take a look at for Scherzer.
Passan: Amongst MLB pitchers with not less than 90 innings this yr, Glasnow had the fifth-most-valuable curveball on a per-pitch foundation. And contemplating the Dodgers leaned closely on the curve within the first two video games, Glasnow spinning it early and infrequently could possibly be an enormous a part of the sport plan. Scherzer, likewise, discovered success together with his curve in his final begin 11 days in the past, although his fastball — which sat at 94 mph and topped out at a season-high 96.5 — proved an efficient providing as properly. Most necessary for Scherzer is retaining the ball within the stadium. He allowed 19 house runs in 85 innings, the second-highest charge among the many 158 pitchers who threw not less than 80 innings this season.
Gonzalez: If Glasnow’s mechanics are correctly synced up — and that is typically a query for somebody who’s 6-foot-8 with plenty of transferring components — I anticipate this to be essentially the most lopsided pitching matchup of this collection. Scherzer is a first-ballot Corridor of Famer, up there with Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw among the many defining pitchers of this period. And if Scherzer’s ALCS efficiency confirmed something, it is that, even at 41 years previous, he ought to by no means be counted out. However the Dodgers know him properly, having seen him as not too long ago as two months in the past, and this model of Scherzer is the kind of pitcher their slumping offense can come alive in opposition to — particularly at house.
What should the Dodgers do to take management of this collection on their house subject?
Castillo: They want their starters to proceed pitching deep into video games. The Blue Jays uncovered the Dodgers’ greatest weak spot — the bullpen — in Sport 1, and Yamamoto did not let that occur once more. Full video games aren’t required, however finishing not less than six innings significantly will increase the Dodgers’ probabilities of profitable.
Passan: Do what no staff has managed to this postseason: strike out Blue Jays hitters. The Dodgers have completed so at a barely larger charge than Toronto’s earlier opponents, however the Jays have taken a lot of wonderful at-bats already within the collection’ first two video games, and the important thing for Glasnow will probably be to keep away from two-strike nibbling and go proper for the punchout. Los Angeles’ bullpen isn’t precisely crammed with high-strikeout choices — their 6.75 strikeouts per 9 are tenth of the 12 playoff groups — so the onus will probably be on Glasnow, Ohtani and, presumably, Snell to generate swing-and-miss over the following three video games at Dodger Stadium.
Gonzalez: Get their offense going. The Dodgers are slashing .216/.307/.359 because the wild-card spherical, averaging a mere 3.7 runs per recreation (it was 5.1 throughout the common season). Their beginning pitchers have masked plenty of the offense’s deficiencies of late, and it is powerful to depend on that persevering with in opposition to a Blue Jays offense this explosive. Los Angeles’ three greatest hitters, particularly, must get going. Ohtani has hit 4 house runs over these previous three rounds, three of which got here within the pennant clincher, however he has in any other case been unproductive offensively. Betts and Freeman, in the meantime, have mixed to slash simply .197/.307/.329 because the wild-card spherical.
What should the Blue Jays do to regain the collection lead on the street?
Castillo: Recreate what occurred in Sport 1, after they pressured Blake Snell to throw 29 pitches within the first inning and did not relent. Snell exited with the bases loaded and no outs within the sixth after 100 pitches. From there, the Blue Jays pounded Los Angeles’ Emmet Sheehan and Anthony Banda in a historic nine-run inning. They had been the perfect in baseball at making contact and avoiding strikeouts. Grinding Dodgers starters down is their path to victory.
Passan: Maintain taking part in clear ball. The Blue Jays final dedicated an error in Sport 2 of the ALCS, 67 innings in the past, and so as to beat a staff as proficient because the Dodgers, it’s worthwhile to deal with each out as the valuable commodity it’s. Toronto bought right here with a potent offense, elite bat-to-ball abilities and distinctive glovework. And even when scoring runs is an important aspect to its success, persevering with to show batted balls into outs will help in its efforts to keep away from the destiny of the Yankees within the final World Sequence.
Gonzalez: When the Dodgers cruised previous Milwaukee within the NLCS, their 4 beginning pitchers and two greatest relievers, Roki Sasaki and Alex Vesia, accounted for all however 9 of their outs. Their components is clear, and never having Vesia for the World Sequence constitutes a serious impediment. The Blue Jays, as Jorge stated, must run up the Los Angeles starters’ pitch counts. And so Toronto’s objective is easy: drive a reliever not named Sasaki to take down not less than two innings in every of those subsequent three video games. If that occurs, Toronto needs to be in good condition.