We’ve reached the final — and biggest — stage of the MLB calendar. The stakes are at their highest, the lights are at their brightest and the chill of autumn is in the air.
That can only mean one thing: the World Series.
The 121st edition of the Fall Classic will get underway with Game 1 between the Dodgers and Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Friday night. And this matchup is unprecedented — never have these two clubs met with the game’s ultimate prize hanging in the balance.
With the defending World Series champions trying to become the first back-to-back champs in 25 years, and their opponent looking to win it all for the first time in more than three decades, it promises to be a tremendous series.
But who will win? In how many games? And who will be the World Series MVP?
We put those questions to a panel of MLB.com experts, and here are the results:
The pick: Dodgers (36 of 56 votes, 64%)
The Blue Jays finished the regular season with the best record in the American League, and Toronto has been battle tested, defeating the Yankees in a four-game AL Division Series before winning a thrilling seven-game AL Championship Series over the Mariners.
But while the Jays have proven their playoff mettle and are led by a slugging first baseman having one of the great individual postseasons of all time, they now face a club that has won nine of its 10 playoff games this month.
L.A.’s bullpen is a question mark because of its shaky end to the regular season, but also because it was barely needed in the NLCS. If the starters once again make the relievers mostly obsolete, it could be a long — or perhaps more accurately, short — series for the Jays.
If, on the other hand, Toronto’s marriage of contact and power in the lineup steals the headlines, this could be another dramatic series like the ALCS.
Series prediction
Dodgers (5 games): 21 votes
Dodgers (6 games): 12 votes
Blue Jays (6 games): 9 votes
Dodgers (7 games): 3 votes
Blue Jays (7 games): 11 votes
Who will be named World Series MVP?
Shohei Ohtani (LAD): 25 votes
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR): 15 votes
Mookie Betts (LAD): 4 votes
George Springer (TOR): 3 votes
Blake Snell (LAD): 3 votes
Bo Bichette (TOR): 1 vote
Teoscar Hernández (LAD): 1 vote
Alejandro Kirk (TOR): 1 vote
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD): 1 vote
Addison Barger (TOR): 1 vote
Max Muncy (LAD): 1 vote
The two best hitters in this World Series garnered the most votes from our panel for Series MVP. Ohtani and Guerrero are good choices for obvious reasons — the former is the best baseball talent on the planet, and the latter is having the best postseason of anyone.
But Ohtani received nearly half of the votes in this survey, and given what he did in Game 4 of the NLCS — 10 strikeouts over six innings on the mound and three homers at the plate — you could certainly see him taking home World Series MVP honors.
“After watching Game 4 of the NLCS, it would be downright foolish to pick anyone other than the author of the greatest individual performance in the history of the game!” wrote senior club reporter John Denton.
Supervising editor Len Hochberg stated the matter succinctly: “Because he’s Shohei Ohtani.”
