The Dodgers are back to defend their title.
While last year’s matchup was the most common one in World Series history, this year’s championship showdown promises to give us something brand new. No matter if the Mariners or Blue Jays win the American League pennant, this World Series will feature a first-time matchup.
After a cathartic comeback in Game 5 — punctuated by a go-ahead grand slam from Eugenio Suárez — Seattle is in the driver’s seat as the ALCS shifts back to Toronto. The Mariners lead the series, 3-2, and are one skinny win from the Fall Classic. The 2025 World Series will begin on Oct. 24. While the Dodgers wait like the rest of us to see whom they will face, here’s a quick overview of each of the two possible pairings.
Who would have home-field advantage?
That honor would belong to the Blue Jays, who finished this season with the better record by one game — 94-68 to 93-69.
The first two games would originate from Rogers Centre on Oct. 24 and 25, respectively. The series then shifts to L.A. for Games 3 (Oct. 27), 4 (Oct. 28) and 5, if necessary (Oct. 29). Game 6 would be on Halloween back in Toronto and Game 7 would be on Nov. 1. Game times will be announced at a later date.
What is the Blue Jays’ World Series history?
What is the head-to-head history between these two teams?
The Dodgers lead the all-time series, 19-11. They have won 14 of the previous 19 meetings, including two of three games this past August at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers took the first two games of that series as starters Blake Snell and Clayton Kershaw combined to allow only one earned run over 16 innings pitched. Ernie Clement hit a tiebreaking home run in the top of the ninth inning to help Toronto salvage the finale.
What notable connections do the Blue Jays and Dodgers share on their current rosters?
Teoscar Hernández and Max Scherzer have already had big moments for the Dodgers and Blue Jays, respectively, this postseason. They also spent time on the other side of this matchup. Hernández won two Silver Sluggers across six seasons with Toronto from 2017-22. Scherzer put up a 2.01 ERA over 85 innings (postseason included) after the Dodgers acquired him from the Nationals at the 2021 Trade Deadline.
A connection between these clubs also resides on each bench. Don Mattingly, the Blue Jays’ bench coach, guided the Dodgers to three NL West titles while serving as their manager from 2011-15. Chris Woodward was drafted by the Blue Jays in 1994 and played seven of his 12 MLB seasons with Toronto. He is Los Angeles’ first-base coach.
Who are the best players to play for both teams?
Scherzer is a likely Hall of Famer, and two players who suited up for the Dodgers and Blue Jays are already in Cooperstown: Rickey Henderson and Fred McGriff. Henderson was a member of Toronto’s title team in 1993. He played the final 30 games of his record-setting career with the Dodgers in 2003.
McGriff was Henderson’s teammate in L.A. in 2003. He began his career with Toronto and hit 125 of his career 493 homers with the club from 1986-90.
Other noteworthy players to don each team’s uniform include infielder Jeff Kent, pitcher David Price, outfielder Shawn Green, pitcher Dave Stewart, infielder Justin Turner, outfielder Raul Mondesi, outfielder Curtis Granderson, catcher Russell Martin, pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu and pitcher David Wells.
What are the keys to this matchup?
1. How will the Blue Jays contain Ohtani’s two-way dominance?
Shohei Ohtani struggled at the plate for most of the NLDS and NLCS but he snapped out of it in a big way in Game 4 of the LCS, becoming the 12th player with three home runs in a postseason game. Ohtani started the bottom of the first inning with a bang, crushing a 446-foot leadoff home run. Ohtani was hardly done, as he one-upped himself with a 469-foot homer in the fourth inning that left Dodger Stadium and a third homer (427 feet) in the seventh inning.
Oh, and Ohtani was also the starting pitcher in the same game, striking out 10 batters across six scoreless innings. It was, no hyperbole, one of the best (maybe the best) individual games we’ve ever seen. If Ohtani’s crushing baseballs again at the plate and dominating on the mound like he has been for months, the Dodgers are going to be awfully tough to beat in the Fall Classic.
2. Can the Dodgers cool off Vlad Jr.?
The Dodgers’ pitching this postseason has been spectacular — more on that in a minute. But it hasn’t really mattered who is on the mound when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is in the batter’s box; he has been on everything thrown his way. In nine games, Guerrero is slashing .457/.524/.971 with five home runs and 11 RBIs this postseason.
The face of the Blue Jays’ franchise is in the middle of a truly special playoff performance. Limiting the damage that Vlad Jr. does at the plate will be priority No. 1 for Los Angeles’ mound men.
3. Can Toronto put runs up against the Dodgers’ rotation?
The Dodgers’ rotation has been dynamic since their Wild Card Series matchup against the Reds. In 10 starts, Dodgers starters have a 1.40 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 64 1/3 innings, averaging over six innings per start with more than a strikeout per inning. There has been consistent production from their starters and also some of the best postseason starts in recent memory.
In Game 1 of the NLCS against the Brewers, Blake Snell faced the minimum in eight scoreless innings, allowing a lone hit, striking out 10 batters and walking none. The next night, Yoshinobu Yamamoto tossed a complete game while allowing just one run to give the Dodgers a commanding 2-0 lead in the series. And in Game 4, Ohtani struck out 10 batters in six scoreless innings.
Who would have home-field advantage?
The Dodgers would hold home-field advantage — just as they did during the 2024 World Series — because their regular-season record (93-69) was better than the Mariners’ (90-72). Thus, Games 1 and 2 would occur in L.A. before Seattle hosts its first Fall Classic games on Oct. 27 and 28.
What is the Mariners’ World Series history?
Um, not applicable. But, leading three games to two in the ALCS, Seattle has never been closer to the World Series than it is right now. The Mariners are looking to finally break through after losing the ALCS in 1995 (in six games versus Cleveland), 2000 (in six games versus the Yankees) and 2001 (in five games versus the Yankees).
What is the head-to-head history between these two teams?
The Dodgers have won 12 consecutive games against the Mariners dating back to April 20, 2021. Los Angeles has outscored the Mariners 63-24 during that span, and Seattle hasn’t scored more than four runs in any of those 12 games. The Dodgers are 32-16 in this matchup all-time. These teams met at T-Mobile Park for three games during the final weekend of the regular season. Ohtani drilled his 55th and final home run of the year in the closing game.
What current roster connections do the Mariners and Dodgers share?
Between Hernández’s stints with the Blue Jays and Dodgers, he spent one season as a Mariner. In 2023, he hit 26 homers in 160 games with Seattle, although he also posted a 31.1% strikeout rate.
Reliever Caleb Ferguson and outfielder Luke Raley were drafted and debuted in The Show with the Dodgers. Both now play for Seattle. Ferguson, who was acquired ahead of this year’s Trade Deadline from the Pirates, allowed the lowest hard-hit rate of any qualified pitcher this season (27.7%).
Who are the best players to play for both teams?
Adrian Beltré made his Major League debut with the Dodgers at the age of 19 in 1998. In 2004, he crushed an MLB-best 48 homers. That set him up to sign a big free-agent contract with the Mariners that winter. Although he did win his first two Gold Gloves with Seattle, Beltré’s offensive production over five years left something to be desired (101 OPS+). He would become a much more potent hitter — and start transforming into a first-ballot Hall of Famer — once he moved on to Boston in 2010.
Three years before Henderson had his swan song with the Dodgers, he played 92 games with the Mariners and, in his age-41 season, stole 31 bases in 40 attempts.
Other noteworthy players to play for each side include pitcher Derek Lowe, outfielder AJ Pollock, infielder Justin Turner, infielder Dee Strange-Gordon, pitcher Rick Honeycutt and utility player Chris Taylor.
What are the keys to this matchup?
1. Can Seattle limit Ohtani?
The Dodgers have roared through October despite inconsistent production from one of the game’s elite hitters. In two games — Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series and Game 4 of the NLCS — Ohtani smashed five home runs, bookending his postseason with historic performances. In the eight games in between, he went 4-for-33 with just one extra-base hit. The opposition managed to neutralize Ohtani with left-handed pitching. He’s just 4-for-24 with 11 strikeouts against southpaws in the playoffs, although he homered in his most recent at-bat against a lefty (his first home run of NLCS Game 4).
The Mariners won’t be able to exploit that weakness as easily as other teams have. Seattle’s rotation consists entirely of right-handers, while Gabe Speier – the main lefty in the bullpen – has allowed runs in three of his last five postseason outings. That could create a significant matchup advantage for Ohtani, who looks like his usual self again entering the Fall Classic.
2. Can the Mariners leave the yard?
L.A. starting pitching has been downright dominant this postseason. A main reason why is that they’ve managed to keep their opponent in the yard. In the playoffs, the Dodgers have allowed only four home runs in 92 innings, and two of those came off of Clayton Kershaw in Game 3 of the NLDS – the only game that L.A. has lost this postseason. Yoshinobu Yamamoto surrendered the other two.
The high-powered Mariners offense is at its best when it’s hitting the long ball. In the ALCS, Seattle has scored 20 of its 25 runs via the long ball, on a total of eleven home runs. If that power disappears against the Dodgers, they would be in trouble.
3. What version of Bryan Woo will the Mariners get?
Woo was Seattle’s best starting pitcher all season long, a first-time All-Star in his age-25 season. But a pectoral injury kept him off the roster for the ALDS, and while he was on the ALCS roster, he didn’t appear in a game until Game 5 – and he did so as a reliever. Woo allowed a run on two hits in an inning, his first game action in exactly a month.
What role Woo plays on a potential World Series roster remains to be seen. Bryce Miller has filled Woo’s shoes admirably as the No. 4 starter. But Woo is a workhorse and the sort of frontline starter capable of neutralizing a potent Dodgers lineup. If he’s effective in any fashion, it’s a major advantage for a weary Seattle pitching staff.
