MLB Playoffs 2025: Where are the NLCS and ALCS and what’s next

We’re two games into the two 2025 league championship series, and it’s time to give our first impressions based on what we’ve seen on the field.
The Seattle Mariners return home with a 2-0 lead in the ALCS after beating the Toronto Blue Jays on consecutive days to start the series.
In the NLCS, the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers took a 2-0 advantage on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers.
What’s stood out the most so far – and what’s next for the World Series hopefuls? Our MLB experts weigh in.
ALCS: Mariners vs. Blue Jays
What has surprised you the most so far?
Jorge Castillo: The assumption was that Seattle’s pitching staff, depleted after a grueling ALDS that ended with a 15-inning Game 5 on Friday, would need at least Sunday’s ALCS opener to reset. But the Mariners pitchers did not give in. Game 1 starter Bryce Miller set the tone, bouncing back from a rough first inning to give the Mariners six crucial innings. The bullpen was the star of Game 2, when Eduard Bazardo, Carlos Vargas and Emerson Hancock each pitched two scoreless innings. Tuesday’s off day should only help the Mariners as the series moves to their cavernous ballpark.
Jeff Passan: The lack of competitive hitters from the Blue Jays. Yes, the Mariners pitching is very good. But the Blue Jays — whose high-quality, work-the-count, spoil-pitch approach all season helped give them an AL East championship — were practically fine-tuning their swing on Miller’s pitches in Game 1 and weren’t much better in Game 2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hitless. Just like Daulton Varsho, Andres Gimenez and Davis Schneider.
Four runs in two games won’t be enough against a lineup as deep as the Mariners’ and with a pitching staff as sensitive as the Blue Jays’ have been in the postseason.
How can the Mariners close this out at home?
Castle : Hitting home runs at T-Mobile Park isn’t easy — the Mariners have hit 134 on the road and 108 at home — but long balls often make the difference in October. That was the case in Game 2, when the Mariners scored eight of their 10 runs on three homers – two three-run homers and a two-run shot.
The Blue Jays allowed 209 home runs during the regular season, the sixth most allowed in the majors and the most allowed by a team in the postseason. If the Mariners continue to make mistakes over the fence, the Blue Jays’ chances of winning four of the next five games are slim to none.
Pass: Don’t consider this a crowning achievement. Too much has happened in Mariners history to doubt anything could go wrong. They have been around for 49 years and have never appeared in a World Series.
The real answer: reduce punchouts. The Mariners are striking out more than 30% of the time in the first two games, which diminishes the opportunities compared to Toronto, which is at 13%. Like Jorge said, as long as Seattle hits home runs, this might be moot. In the absence of that, putting the ball in play can save them.
What can the Blue Jays do to bring this series back to Toronto?
Castle : It starts with scoring more points. The Mariners pitching staff, tired and all, silenced an offense that demolished Yankees pitching last week. The Blue Jays only collected four runs in the two games in Toronto. All were scored in the first two rounds. In Game 2, the Blue Jays went 1 for 28 with three walks after the second inning.
Nathan Lukes and George Springer are the only Blue Jays to have multiple hits in the series. Guerrero is 0 for 7 with a walk after finishing the ALDS 9 for 17 with three homers. Varsho is 0 for 7. Addison Barger and Andres Giménez are 0 for 6. Springer’s leadoff home run in Game 1 was the only ball Toronto hit over the fence.
The Blue Jays scored 21 runs in a three-game sweep of the Mariners during the regular season. But it was home in May, and T-Mobile Park is a pitcher’s paradise. This will be a quick series if their bats don’t wake up in Seattle.
Pass: Just look at Game 1 of the NLCS. The Dodgers offense is struggling, and it really doesn’t matter because Blake Snell threw eight of the most brilliant innings you’ll ever see. And while Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer, the Blue Jays’ starters in Games 3 and 4, aren’t the caliber of Snell today, they are both former Cy Young winners who pitched huge games. Seattle’s pitching is too good for Toronto to win this series via slugfests. The Blue Jays will therefore simply have to beat the Mariners at their own game: a solid starting pitcher and enough relief to replace.
NLCS
What has struck you the most so far?
Bradford Doolittle: The Dodgers’ starting pitching was off. It’s not just the zeros posted by Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto; The Brewers hitters looked overmatched against them most of the time. Milwaukee had a clear plan to ambush Yamamoto as often as possible in Game 2, but after Jackson Chourio’s leadoff homer, it just didn’t work. Yamamoto continued to throw strikes and the Brewers did nothing with them.
Jesse Rogers: The Dodgers’ starting pitching went from questionable to dominant in the blink of an eye. Part of the reason the Brewers went 6-0 against Los Angeles during the regular season was because they faced a team putting together its starting lineup. Dave Roberts even admitted to “slow playing” Snell just to get him ready for this moment.
Even a leadoff home run by Chourio against Yamamoto in Game 2 couldn’t change the narrative. Yamamoto threw a complete game 111 pitches, allowing only two extra hits and a walk after that long ball. On most teams, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani would be the No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers, but the Dodgers will start them against Milwaukee at Dodger Stadium later this week. It’s an embarrassment of riches — and it could ruin the Brewers’ chances of winning their first World Series title.
What do the Dodgers need to do to close out this series at home?
Bradford Doolittle: Just keep riding the wave. Los Angeles’ rotation has become the story of the postseason thus far, and while the Dodgers’ offense hasn’t matched the pitchers in terms of dominance, they’re the hottest team right now. And the offense will not last forever.
Jesse Rogers: Just keep throwing like they are and maybe get Ohtani to the plate. Not that they’ve needed him until now, but if he starts gaslighting it, this series won’t be coming back to the Midwest. Closer Roki Sasaki will also likely be more comfortable at home than in the first match. All signs point to the Dodgers winning a short series.
What do the Brewers need to bring this series back to Milwaukee?
Bradford Doolittle: They need traffic on the bases, especially early in games. They weren’t able to showcase their athleticism against the Dodgers because no one reached base. Get on base, hope to bother Glasnow and Ohtani, and get into that Los Angeles bullpen before the fourth or fifth inning. The formula isn’t complicated, but the way the Dodgers are going, executing it will be a challenge.
Jesse Rogers: Putting a bad number would be useful. Somewhere along the line, they need one of those Brewers innings – the kind that forces the defense to make mistakes while using their speed and ability on the base paths to create chaos. Easier said than done against the Dodgers’ starting lineup, but if they can get into the bowels of the Los Angeles bullpen, they have a chance. This is the way forward for the Brewers.