The Los Angeles Dodgers have defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS, and the Toronto Blue Jays have defeated the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS to set the scene for the 2025 World Series. Game 1 will be on Friday, October 24th.
The Dodgers have probably been the most dominant team of the past 10 years of Major League Baseball. They have not missed the playoffs making it to the World Series in 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2024, and the NLCS in all of those years, and 2016 and 2021. They have only won 2 World Series out of all of those chances though. Their main problem has been getting over the hump in the Postseason. The Dodgers had made it to the promised land in 2024. Last year, they defeated the Yankees in just 5 games last year, powered by their bullpen and elite performances from veteran Freddie Freeman and others. Now, after yet another great off-season, landing Japanese prospect pitcher Roki Sasaki, it looked like they would be the powerhouse of baseball again. After a good, but not perfect regular season, the Dodgers won their division and advanced to the Wild Card Series against Cincinnati. They took care of business in 2 games there. Then, they defeated the Phillies in 4 games with a walk-off error on Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering. They proceeded to the NLCS against Milwaukee, the number 1 seed of the National League. Backed by amazing starting pitching performances from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani. They all went deep into games, with Yamamoto pitching all 9 innings in the Game 2 victory. The Dodgers properly got the job done in Game 4, with 3 solo home runs by Shohei Ohtani, who also had a gem of a pitching performance in the same game. They swept the Brewers and now are in progress of a full week to relax before the series begins.
The Blue Jays have not really been as much of a powerhouse as the Dodgers have the past couple years. They had a great regular season, finishing 94-68, winning the AL East by a tiebreaker over the Yankees. Then, to put salt into a wound, they defeated the Yankees in 4 games in the ALDS, with a good bullpen and a good overall performance by their offense. They advanced to play the Mariners in the ALCS, and got quickly punched in the mouth at home, going down 2-0 in the series, withered down by great pitching and defense in Game One and a relentless attack from the plate in Game Two. Then, they regained their mojo and went to Seattle and pounded the M’s in Games 3 and 4, carried by George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. After a heart-breaking loss in Game 5, with their backs against the wall, they won Game 6 with strong relief of surprising rookie Trey Yesavage. Falling behind early in Game 7, Springer once again pulled through, hitting a 3 run shot to left to take a 4-3 lead in the 7th. In the ninth, closer Jeff Hoffman shut the door, earning the save, and the series.
Game 1 will be Friday, October 24th.
