There are two sides to every World Series. While the Los Angeles Dodgers overcame impossible odds to win their second-straight Fall Classic, there are some players on the Toronto Blue Jays kicking themselves for brutal mistakes made in a game decided by mere inches. Such is the case in any Game 7. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Toronto Blue Jays had the bases loaded with just one out. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, inserted into the game as a pinch runner for second baseman Bo Bichette, had a chance to win the game on contact.
Per MLB.com, when the Jays loaded the bases with room to spare, their win probability was as high as 82 percent. The Dodgers played the infield in on Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho, who could've ensured victory with a deep fly ball or a line drive through the infield. Varsho didn't do his part, hitting a hard ground ball to Dodgers hero Miguel Rojas. While Rojas bobbled the ball, he still had time to throw a strike to catcher Will Smith, who just barely kept his foot on home plate and secured an out on IKF, which was upheld on a Blue Jays challenge.
By the cleat near the toe of will smith. He was out and I’ve never seen anything that close pic.twitter.com/SwElANfgVw
— John Ball (@burnedwick) November 2, 2025
Smith hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the 11th inning, cementing his place in baseball lore forever. However, there's a real argument to be made that Kiner-Falefa's mental error cost the Jays their first World Series since the early-90's, rather than Smith's cleat.
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Isiah Kiner-Falefa's mental error will haunt the Blue Jays for years
First, I should note that Kiner-Falefa was placed in a tough spot. As a pinch-runner in the bottom of the ninth inning of the World Series (Game 7, mind you!), IKF's baserunning was sure to be diagnosed by baseball fans whether he scored or not. In this case, it was Kiner-Falefa's lead, or lack thereof, that will be second-guessed for years to come.
IKF at contact on that Varsho play.
— Jake Mintz (@Jake_Mintz) November 2, 2025
Inexcusable lack of secondary lead. Over-emphasis on avoiding a line drive double play. IKF can basically be as far away from third as Muncy is.
He has at least two more steps.
Only needed one. pic.twitter.com/W5GUixZvSu
As the image suggests, IKF chose not to take any chances with Varsho at the plate. Kiner-Falefa didn't want to get picked off third base in the biggest moment of his life, and thus opted not to take a big lead with Max Muncy lingering on the grass. That being said, the rule of thumb here for any baserunner is to take a lead which matches the number of steps the third baseman is from the bag. Muncy was playing over and in, just in case Varsho laid down a sacrifice squeeze or hit a dribbler down the third-base line. Thus, IKF could've afforded another step or two in his lead, which would've made all the difference since he was called out by...less than that step.
Considering Kiner-Falefa was inserted as a pinch-runner, he ought to know this going in. Heck, the Blue Jays third base coach also could've pulled Kiner-Falefa over during Varsho's at-bat to ask for a secondary lead. None of those things happened, which is why I'm sitting here writing a story about the Dodgers second-straight World Series victory, rather than the Blue Jays' first in three decades-plus.
Ahead of free agency, Blue Jays are unlikely to bring Isiah Kiner-Falefa back
As FanSided's Chris Landers noted in his Blue Jays free agency preview, IKF is unlikely to be re-signed by Toronto, and it's not because of his late-inning mistake in Game 7:
"IKF isn't much with the bat, but he's a heady, versatile player who emerged in a key role once Bichette went down with a knee injury in September. He probably shouldn't play short anymore, but he can play just about everywhere else (he even used to be a catcher once upon a time), and he does all the little things managers love. Unfortunately, he'll be a free agent this winter, and Toronto has bigger priorities elsewhere with enough organizational depth to backfill without competing for his services," Landers wrote.
The Blue Jays bench is set to undergo a makeover, and despite Kiner-Falefa's flaw in that moment, he's a versatile player who could thrive elsewhere on a contract Toronto is unlikely to match. It's a shame that this is how he'll be remembered in Toronto, but in a game of inches, IKF should've used a ruler.