After a roller-coaster couple of games in Canada, the 2025 World Series has reached its first off day — a perfect chance to exhale, take a step back and try to make sense of what we just witness in Games 1 and 2. The Toronto Blue Jays struck first and struck big, getting into the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen and pouring it on to the tune of 11 runs in a raucous series-opening win. But the Dodgers flipped the script on Saturday night, getting yet another masterful performance from Yoshinobu Yamamoto as this rotation continues to carry them through October.
Now the series is deadlocked at 1-1, as the scene shifts to Dodger Stadium for Game 3 on Monday night. Which team has the edge? And which stars will step up and deliver the big moments that will swing what sure seems like a very competitive matchup? After two games that were all over the place, it's only fitting that the World Series MVP picture is similarly muddled. Let's break down where the rankings stand ahead of Game 3, and who's in line to take home the hardware as things currently stand.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
World Series MVP ladder: Resetting the field after first two games
1. RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers
Yamamoto did it again on Saturday night, putting the Dodgers pitching staff on his back and delivering a complete game four-hitter. The Jays had their chances early, but once the right-hander settled in, he put it into cruise control. In a series in which the top of the Los Angeles order has yet to really leave its mark — and in which the Los Angeles bullpen remains a disaster zone — the rotation is going to have to pick up the slack, and Yamamoto is also in line to start a potential clincher in Game 6. If he delivers again there, the trophy feels like it's all but his.
2. C Will Smith, Dodgers
Maybe now Smith will finally get his due as part of the Dodgers' murderer's row. He's been one of the best all-around catchers in the sport for years now, and with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman all struggling at the plate in Game 2, it was Smith who got the scoring started in the first and then delivered the go-ahead homer in the off of Louis Varland in the top of the seventh inning. He's 3-for-7 with four RBI overall, and if none of his starrier teammates feel like showing up, he might have to put this offense on his back.
3. 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
Vladdy has yet to really have his flashbulb moment, but anyone who's watched the first two games of this series would tell you that he remains locked all the way in at the plate. He's got three hits and has reached base four times in nine at-bats, and it feels like just a matter of time before some of those line drives find their way over the fence. Toronto is very much alive in this series, and if they do find a way to pull off the upset, you can bet that Guerrero Jr. is going to be a big reason why.
4. OF/DH George Springer, Blue Jays
If there's one thing we learned from the first two games of this series, it's that Toronto is going to need to hit their way to a title. We figured as much going in, and watching Trey Yesavage, Kevin Gausman and this undermanned bullpen try to navigate the Dodgers lineup only reinforced that idea.
There aren't really any viable pitching candidates for series MVP on the Jays side of things, so let's nominate the other big bopper at the top of their lineup. Springer is one of October's biggest risers, and he's slashing .375/.444/.500 so far in this series. He's going to need to keep it up if Toronto wants a chance as the scene shifts to L.A.
5. DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
Garbage-time Game 1 homer notwithstanding, Ohtani has yet to really make his mark on this series. Then again ... I mean, he's Shohei Ohtani. All it takes is one game for him to flip a series on its head, and he still hasn't gotten his chance to pitch. (That will come in Game 4.) His singular game-breaking ability means that he can only fall so far on a list like this, even though, he still seems a bit out of sorts (by his standards) at the plate.
6. C Alejandro Kirk, Blue Jays
Kirk must be so maddening to try and pitch against. His 5-foot-8 (and even that seems generous) frame shrinks the strike zone, and he's almost impossible to strike out. All he does is find ways to put the barrel on the baseball, as he did with three hits and a homer in the Jays' win in Game 1. Oh, and he's also a tremendous defensive catcher, too. If he keeps hitting like this and navigates a spotty pitching staff to a World Series upset, his case will be hard to ignore.
7. 1B Freddie Freeman, Dodgers
Again, this one is more rooted in reputation than actual production to this point. Then again, Freeman's reputation is well-founded, especially this time of year. He just missed a homer on more than one occasion in Game 2, taking much better swings than we've seen from him lately. If he does get locked in, he can turn this series into a laugher in a hurry, and few players left on the board come with that sort of ceiling.
8. RHP Tyler Glasnow, Dodgers
Glasnow is in line to get the ball for Game 3 at Dodger Stadium, which means he's also in line to start Game 7 back in Toronto if the series goes the distance. That offers a whole lot of high-leverage moments, and Glasnow has the sort of electric stuff to take advantage. He has the opportunity to really leave his mark for good or for ill.
9. OF Daulton Varsho, Blue Jays
With Anthony Santander on the shelf and Bo Bichette still clearly not 100 percent as he works his way back from a knee injury, Varsho finds himself the third banana behind Vladdy and Springer almost by default. The Blue Jays are going to need to bang to stay in this series and bring it back to Canada, and Varsho is the most likely candidate beyond the obvious stars. He was sneakily tremendous during the regular season, and his homer off of Blake Snell in Game 1 was an underratedly massive swing — if Toronto were still trailing, 2-0, who knows whether that nine-run sixth inning plays out the way it did?
10. 3B Ernie Clement, Blue Jays
Death, taxes, and Clement spraying line drives in the postseason, apparently. I'm as stunned as you are, but this is the third consecutive series now in which the Jays' versatile infielder has put together quality at-bats and proved a menace to opponent pitching staffs. Plus, his ability to play solid defense all over the place is huge for a Toronto team that's putting it together on the fly a bit right now. He feels like an underrated candidate to deliver a turning point in this series.