The 2025 World Series featured David against Goliath, or at least that's what we were told. The Toronto Blue Jays were a team many pegged to finish in last place in the AL East before the season, and even after winning the division and earning the No. 1 seed, I'm not sure how many predicted that the Jays would go on a run to the Fall Classic. On the other side, the Los Angeles Dodgers won last year's World Series, got better over the offseason and, after a so-so regular season, steamrolled their way through the NL side of the bracket. They looked unbeatable.
That hasn't exactly been the case so far. Yes, they won Game 2, but that was only after they got blown out in Game 1. This series is knotted at one game apiece with the scene shifting to Dodger Stadium for Games 3 through 5, and I truly think it's anyone's World Series to win at this point.
That's one of several assumptions we were wrong about.
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Dodgers will not win this series easily
The Dodgers are really, really good. They've assembled one of the most talented teams in MLB history, and they've saved their best baseball for the time of year that matters most. With that being said, the Blue Jays are really good, too.
Toronto's lineup is unrelenting. Their defense is as good as anyone's. The top of their rotation is really tough to hit. There's a reason they played as well as they did in the regular season and up to this point in the postseason.
The Dodgers might still win it all, and after winning Game 2 on the road, they're undoubtedly the favorites. Anyone who assumed they'd win this series easily, though, is clearly mistaken. The Jays were the dominant team in Game 1, and I'd argue they had chances to win Game 2, too. These teams are more evenly matched than we might've given them credit for.
Dodgers' lineup isn't much better than the Blue Jays
This Dodgers lineup is littered with big names. I mean, it's such a good lineup that Max Muncy, a player who finished the regular season with an .846 OPS, hits sixth. From top to bottom, this group can beat you in so many ways. With that being said, can we not say that about the Blue Jays?
A lot of the focus has been on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer during these playoffs, and rightfully so, but where would the Jays be without Ernie Clement, who ranks second only behind Vladdy in postseason hits? Where would the Jays be without the likes of Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho, each of whom has 10 RBI in 13 games? Even guys like Andres Gimenez and Addison Barger, out of the lower third of the order, have come up clutch on numerous occasions.
The Jays don't have nearly as many big names as the Dodgers, but despite playing in just one more postseason game than Los Angeles, Toronto has scored 28 more runs and hit seven more home runs than the Dodgers during these playoffs. Toronto's lineup is every bit as legit as Los Angeles'.
Blue Jays bullpen isn't much better than the Dodgers
The one clear advantage many assumed that the Jays had was in the bullpen. The bullpen was the Dodgers' biggest Achilles heel by far throughout the regular season, and while they hadn't needed to use it much in these playoffs entering the World Series, their relievers had struggled in October as well. Unfortunately, it's hard to say this Jays bullpen is much better.
Jeff Hoffman has been lights out as their closer, but the same can be said about Roki Sasaki with the Dodgers. The Jays have relied heavily on Louis Varland, but while Varland has had some good moments, he's also posted a 4.63 ERA in these playoffs and has allowed four home runs in 11.2 innings of work, several of which were huge. In Game 2 of the World Series, his struggles resulted in a two-run deficit doubling to four runs.
Sasaki is the only reliever the Dodgers can fully trust right now, and I hate to say that it feels the same way with Hoffman in the Jays' 'pen. I like Varland, and Seranthony Dominguez has pitched well for the most part, so I would say that Toronto still has the edge, but it's not as if there's a massive discrepancy here. The Jays need length from their starters almost as badly as the Dodgers do.
Dodgers rotation is not unbeatable
The biggest storyline entering this series is that the Dodgers will win with ease because their rotation is unbeatable. You can understand why, when that rotation includes Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani. But we've quickly come to learn that an elite Toronto offense absolutely can handle this elite staff.
Blake Snell allowed five runs in five innings of work in Game 1, and honestly, it could've been even worse. I know that Yoshinobu Yamamoto twirled a complete game in Game 2, and he was obviously brilliant, but the Jays blew an opportunity with a runner on third and nobody out in the first inning by not scoring a single run. Toronto also blew an opportunity in the second inning by failing to score after a rare Freddie Freeman blunder in the field.
Yamamoto was able to settle in after that, but what would've happened had the Jays taken advantage of a shaky Yamamoto in the first? We already saw the Jays get to Snell. They have the talent and approach to beat anybody. The Dodgers' starting pitchers are supremely talented and might will Los Angeles to wins, but they are not unbeatable.