World Series 2025: What we learned about the Blue Jays and Dodgers

After two action-packed games at the Rogers Center in Toronto, the 2025 World Series will take place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles for Game 3 on Monday evening.

Will the return home help the Dodgers take control or will the Blue Jays retake the series lead on the road? What has impressed us the most so far and what does each team need to do to take control of the series from here?

Our MLB experts break down what we’ve seen so far and what it means for the rest of this Fall Classic.

Who is the two-game MVP of this World Series – and will he take home the award when all is said and done?

Jorge Castillo: Addison Barger’s grand slam in Game 1 will be remembered in Canada for a very long time, but what Yoshinobu Yamamoto accomplished in Game 2 could have saved the Dodgers’ title hopes. The right-hander was totally dominant again, becoming the first pitcher since Curt Schilling in 2001 to throw consecutive complete games in the postseason. The Dodgers must avoid overexposing their bullpen. Yamamoto made sure that happened in the second game.

Jeff Passan: Yamamoto is the early favorite and has the inside track, although it depends on the depth of the series. At the earliest, Yamamoto would start Game 6 — and that would come with five days of rest, of which he last had his first complete game against Milwaukee in the National League Championship Series. But don’t sleep on Will Smith. A go-ahead homer in Game 2. Great at-bats. No strikeouts in the first two games. On the Blue Jays side, Alejandro Kirk’s strong Game 1 and terrific defense give him a solid foundation on which to build.

Alden Gonzalez: I’ll go with Smith, who guided Yamamoto through his Game 2 masterpiece and, along with Kirk, was the better offensive player in those first two games. Smith’s impact is especially notable given (1) the hairline fracture he was still recovering from entering these playoffs and (2) how exhausted he clearly was at this point last year. The Dodgers promoted rookie Dalton Rushing earlier than expected this season in an effort to keep Smith fresh down the stretch. A late-season hand injury could have derailed those plans, but Smith appears to be at his best right now — a crucial development for a Dodgers offense that has struggled as a whole since the wild-card round.

What surprised you the most about the first two games in Toronto, and should we expect that to continue in Los Angeles?

Castle : The Blue Jays bullpen – widely considered a significant weakness – continues to put up quality innings. Toronto’s relief corps allowed four runs in 7⅓ innings over the first two games. Two of those runs came after the Blue Jays took an 11-2 lead in Game 1, thanks to a Shohei Ohtani home run. It wasn’t a stellar performance, but it was encouraging as Toronto looks to secure three more wins.

Pass: Mediocrity at the top of the Los Angeles roster. Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are a combined 4-for-21 with four runs and two RBIs – both coming from Ohtani’s homer in garbage time in the Game 1 blowout. It hasn’t been a particularly good postseason for any of the Dodgers’ stars. Ohtani’s six home runs are great, sure, but he’s 5-for-43 with 19 strikeouts in his other at-bats. Betts is without a home run and has scored just three runs in 12 games. Last year, Freeman entered the World Series with one RBI, then drove in 12 against New York. This year, Freeman entered the World Series with one RBI – and scored no runs in the two games against Toronto.

Gonzalez: Bo Bichette’s handling – that he started Game 1 at second base, a position he had never played in the major leagues, and, to a lesser extent, that he was not in the lineup for Game 2. Bichette spent the last seven weeks recovering from a sprained left knee, and while it clearly isn’t fully healed yet, he nonetheless proved viable, even entering the latter stages of Game 2. The Blue Jays clearly wanted Bichette in the Game 2 lineup for the first game against a left-hander in Blake Snell. And even though the rest of the Dodgers rotation is right-handed, Bichette is clearly going to play a role in this series. Blue Jays manager John Schneider said he will be in the lineup against Tyler Glasnow in Game 3, which comes on a day off.

What do you expect from starting pitchers Max Scherzer and Tyler Glasnow in Game 3?

Castle : Glasnow will continue his postseason success at home, while Scherzer will have a tougher time upon returning to Los Angeles four years after pitching the postseason for the Dodgers. Glasnow has held opponents to one run in 11⅔ innings in his two postseason starts – both at Dodger Stadium. In August, he held Toronto to two runs on four hits in 5⅔ innings in Los Angeles. For his part, Scherzer delivered a crucial performance for the Blue Jays in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series in Seattle as his team trailed 2-1 in the series. The Dodgers offense has mostly struggled in the postseason, but it’s only a matter of time before it breaks out. It will be a difficult test for Scherzer.

Pass: Among MLB pitchers with at least 90 innings this year, Glasnow had the fifth-most valuable curveball per pitch. And given that the Dodgers relied heavily on the curve in the first two games, Glasnow had it rolling early and could often be an important part of the game plan. Scherzer, likewise, found success with his curve in his last start 11 days ago, although his fastball — which sat at 94 mph and peaked at a season-high 96.5 — also proved to be an effective offering. The most important thing for Scherzer is to keep the ball in the stadium. He has allowed 19 home runs in 85 innings, the second-highest rate among the 158 pitchers who have thrown at least 80 innings this season.

Gonzalez: If Glasnow’s mechanics are timed correctly — and that’s often a question for someone who is 6-foot-8 with a lot of moving parts — I expect this to be the most lopsided pitching matchup in this series. Scherzer is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, with Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw among the defining pitchers of that era. And if Scherzer’s performance in the ALCS showed anything, it’s that even at 41 years old, he should never be ruled out. But the Dodgers know him well, having seen him just two months ago, and this version of Scherzer is the type of pitcher against whom their weakened offense can come alive – especially at home.

What must the Dodgers do to take control of this series on their home field?

Castle : They need their starters to continue to play deep in games. The Blue Jays exposed the Dodgers’ biggest weakness – the bullpen – in Game 1, and Yamamoto didn’t let that happen again. Complete games are not necessary, but completing at least six innings greatly increases the Dodgers’ chances of winning.

Pass: Do what no team has been able to do in the postseason: strike out Blue Jays hitters. The Dodgers have done it at a slightly higher rate than Toronto’s previous opponents, but the Jays have already taken a number of excellent at-bats in the first two games of the series, and the key for Glasnow will be to avoid munching on two strikes and go straight for the punchout. Los Angeles’ bullpen isn’t exactly stocked with high strikeout options – their 6.75 strikeouts per nine is 10th of 12 teams in the postseason – so it will be up to Glasnow, Ohtani and, presumably, Snell to generate swings and misses over the next three games at Dodger Stadium.

Gonzalez: Launch their attack. The Dodgers have slashed .216/.307/.359 since the wild-card round, averaging just 3.7 runs per game (it was 5.1 during the regular season). Their starting pitchers have masked many of the offense’s deficiencies of late, and it’s hard to count on that to continue against such an explosive Blue Jays offense. Los Angeles’ top three hitters, in particular, need to get going. Ohtani hit four homers in the final three rounds, including three in the deciding game, but was otherwise unproductive offensively. Betts and Freeman, meanwhile, have combined to slash just .197/.307/.329 since the wild-card round.

What do the Blue Jays need to do to regain the series lead on the road?

Castle : Recreate what happened in Game 1, when they forced Blake Snell to throw 29 pitches in the first inning and didn’t back down. Snell came out with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth after 100 pitches. From there, the Blue Jays beat Los Angeles’ Emmet Sheehan and Anthony Banda in a historic nine-run inning. They were the best in baseball at making contact and avoiding strikeouts. Eliminating the Dodgers’ starters is their path to victory.

Pass: Keep playing clean ball. The Blue Jays last made an error in Game 2 of the ALCS, 67 innings ago, and to beat a team as talented as the Dodgers, you have to treat every out like a precious commodity. Toronto came in with a powerful offense, elite batting skills and exceptional glove work. And while scoring runs is the most important element of his success, continuing to turn batted balls into outs will help him avoid the fate of the Yankees last World Series.

Gonzalez: When the Dodgers got past Milwaukee in the NLCS, their four starting pitchers and their top two relievers, Roki Sasaki and Alex Vesia, accounted for all but nine of their outs. Their formula is obvious, and not having Vesia for the World Series poses a major obstacle. The Blue Jays, as Jorge said, need to increase the pitching numbers of Los Angeles’ starters. Toronto’s goal is therefore simple: force a reliever not named Sasaki to win at least two innings in each of these next three games. If that happens, Toronto should be in good shape.