The World Series matchup is set, with the NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers visiting the AL champion Toronto Blue Jays for Game 1 on Friday, Oct. 24. It will be a quest to repeat for the Dodgers. For the Blue Jays, it's a quest to deliver their first MLB title since 1993, when Toronto beat Philadelphia to win its second straight World Series. The list of teams to repeat in league history is rather short. The Dodgers are hoping to join that exclusive club.
Los Angeles breezed through the National League gauntlet, losing just once in the first three rounds (an 8-2 loss to the Phillies in Game 3 of the NLDS). Toronto found it much tougher sledding, dispatching the New York Yankees in four in the ALDS before slugging it out in a seven-game heavyweight duel against the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS. It ended with a 4-3 victory in Game 7, with George Springer the hero.
George Springer, Game 7 ALCS, the moment that shocked Blue Jays fans and the nation, through my lens. #bluejays #wewantitall pic.twitter.com/H3SAwOxaXp
— Colton (@coltonnhall) October 22, 2025
This is an incredible matchup on paper. The No. 1 seed in the AL against the most expensive and talented roster in MLB. The Dodgers' pitching staff has come alive in October. Toronto's offense is almost bulletproof, with incredible plate discipline and multiple superstars to anchor it — none more impressive than Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was ALCS MVP (and emphatic in his demolition of the Yankees back in the ALDS).
Several players could win World Series MVP — there's a lot of talent in the mix — but if we organize each team by OPS so far this postseason, here are the leading candidates.
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Shohei Ohtani headline postseason OPS leaders and potential World Series MVPs
Rank | Name | Team | Postseason OPS |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | Toronto Blue Jays | 1.440 |
2 | Ernie Clement | Toronto Blue Jays | 1.073 |
3 | Shohei Ohtani | Los Angeles Dodgers | .967 |
4 | George Springer | Toronto Blue Jays | .929 |
5 | Addison Barger | Toronto Blue Jays | .889 |
6 | Teoscar Hernández | Los Angeles Dodgers | .888 |
7 | Mookie Betts | Los Angeles Dodgers | .809 |
8 | Daulton Varsho | Toronto Blue Jays | .804 |
9 | Kiké Hernández | Los Angeles Dodgers | .792 |
10 | Tommy Edman | Los Angeles Dodgers | .791 |
Other potential candidates: Freddie Freeman (.744), Bo Bichette (N/A), Alejandro Kirk (.752), Max Muncy (.746), Will Smith (.661),
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has unexpected company among Blue Jays favorites
Guerrero put together a perfectly adequate regular season by his standards, but he has taken it to another level in October. Through 11 postseason games so far, Guerrero is 22-for-65 (.338) with six home runs, four doubles and 13 RBI. He hit four of those homers in the Yankees series, manifesting his vague but well-documented hatred for the Yankees organization into one of the game's all-time individual performances.
If Toronto goes the distance, it's not hard to imagine Guerrero keeping apace and taking home World Series MVP. He will certainly be the postseason MVP overall. The 26-year-old has already cemented his place in Toronto sports legend. He's the clutch gene personified, soaking in the spotlight and stepping up in all the high-pressure moments.
Ernie Clement finished the regular season with modest offensive numbers — a .711 OPS and 95 OPS+, which puts him a hair below league average — but the 29-year-old has turned in the best baseball of his career when the Blue Jays most needed it. He's not a marquee name. Him winning would come out of left field. But the World Series MVP focuses on a four-to-seven game sample, not a player's collective achievement. If Clement keeps swinging the bat well and making plays at the hot corner, the voters will reward him.
George Springer has the most postseason experience among Toronto's hitters. He has a lot of huge series under his belt after an extended stint with the Astros during their dynastic peak. He made the swing of the ALCS. If he comes through again in the World Series, it would be a fitting end to one of the greatest comeback stories in recent memory. Springer was totally lost at the plate a year ago. Now he's on the precipice of delivering a trophy north of the border.
Shohei Ohtani is the obvious frontrunner for the Dodgers — but far from a shoo-in
Shohei Ohtani put together arguably the best performance in MLB history in Game 4 of the NLCS. He pitched six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts ... and hit three home runs, a stat line only Ohtani could deliver. It closed out a dominant series win over the best team in MLB (by regular season record). It feels like Ohtani is the obvious favorite to win World Series MVP if the Dodgers go the distance, especially now that he's pitching again (and throwing absolute gas).
That said, Ohtani was the clear favorite a year ago and Freddie Freeman came up with the big moments. We certainly shouldn't discount another Freeman heater. He knows this stage well and tends to perform in the clutch.
Teoscar Hernández has been the most impressive non-Ohtani hitter so far this postseason, however. It was an up and down regular season for the veteran, but Hernández is an absolute beast when he's hot. Not many players in MLB, and certainly not in the World Series, hit the ball harder. Hernández came up with several big swings in the Phillies series. The former Blue Jay could very well dial up some revenge in the World Series.
Mookie Betts struggled for most of the regular season, but he's Mookie Betts — a three-time champ who has come up time after time, year after year, in October. He's swinging the bat better of late and it wouldn't be the least bit shocking if the ex-Red Sox star buries a former division rival.
Also worth watching: Tommy Edman, who was huge last October and who has thus far followed it up in 2025.