The 2025 World Series is set, and it will be a matchup between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers.

After the defending champion Dodgers swept the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series, the Blue Jays outlasted the Seattle Mariners in a thrilling American League series.

What carried Toronto and Los Angeles this far — and will it continue to work in the Fall Classic? Which stars will shine brightest? And who else must step up? Our MLB experts are here with your first look at this year’s World Series showdown.

Note: Matchup odds come from Doolittle’s formula using power ratings as the basis for 10,000 simulations to determine the most likely outcomes. Team temperatures are based on Bill James’ formula for determining how “hot” or “cold” a team is at any given point; average is 72°.

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

For the first time in more than three decades, the Toronto Blue Jays are back in the World Series where they will find the well-rested, defending champion Dodgers waiting for them. It’s the third Fall Classic for the Toronto franchise but the first since the Jays won back-to-back titles in 1992 and ’93.

The Expos never won a pennant, so the two Toronto pennants account for all World Series appearances by Canada-based clubs. Game 1 at the Rogers Centre will mark the seventh World Series game played outside of the U.S. border. And, spoiler alert, Canada will be rocking.

There’s a fairly limited history between the teams in terms of regular-season interleague play. The Dodgers hold the all-time edge, 19-11, and the franchises did not meet until June 18, 2002. The Blue Jays won that initial encounter behind a Roy Halladay complete game that featured an interesting pair of leadoff hitters. Hitting first for Toronto in that game, at least at the outset, was Chris Woodward, the Dodgers’ current first-base coach. Leading off for the Dodgers was Dave Roberts, who went 0-for-4 against Halladay.

Before the season, my simulations gave this matchup a 2.28% chance of happening, ranking 13th of 165 matchups that popped up in at least one sim. But because the Jays weren’t forecast as a favorite, and the AL figured to be tightly packed (as turned out to be the case), there were eight other teams that faced the Dodgers more often in the 10,000 simulated seasons, including the Mariners, whom the Jays just vanquished in the ALDS.

It’s a novel Fall Classic matchup featuring teams with old-school traits. For the Dodgers, it has been a joyous leaning on a dominant starting rotation. For Toronto, it’s a throwback offense that features standout batting or, more precisely, all the traits that lead to what passes for a high average in 2025 baseball. All of this makes this first Dodgers-Jays showdown a fascinating clash of teams with contrasting styles of play. The games begin in Toronto on Friday. — Doolittle

Toronto Blue Jays

Odds of winning: 40.4%

Team temperature: 93°

What is the No. 1 factor that has carried the Blue Jays to the World Series for the first time in three decades?

Jorge Castillo: This one is easy. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been the best player in this postseason — and, yes, that includes Shohei Ohtani. Six months after signing the third-largest contract in Major League Baseball history, Guerrero has played the part of superstar in October. He’s slashing an absurd .442/.510/.930. He has three strikeouts all month. His six home runs tied the Blue Jays franchise record for postseason home runs in a career. He has also showcased good defense at first base and smarts on the basepaths.

For a guy who entered October with a downright ugly October history — he slashed .136/.240/.182 without a home run in his first six career playoff games — Guerrero has put his stamp on this postseason to carry Toronto to its first World Series in 32 years. Four wins over the Dodgers, with Guerrero as the centerpiece of the upset, would make this one of the greatest October runs ever.

David Schoenfield: Yes, Jorge is correct: If Guerrero has a big World Series, it will go down as one of the greatest postseason performances of all time. Let’s also give a shoutout to rookie pitcher Trey Yesavage – and to the Blue Jays for having the belief in him to make him their No. 2 starter behind Kevin Gausman at the start of the postseason, even though Yesavage had made just three starts in the regular season.

He pitched 5⅓ hitless innings with 11 strikeouts against the Yankees in the ALDS, pure domination. He got three huge double plays to beat the Mariners in ALCS Game 6. Obviously, the stuff speaks for itself, but the Jays asked a lot from a young pitcher, and he has delivered.

Will it/won’t it continue against the Dodgers?

Castillo: Yes, but in limited doses because the Dodgers will probably pitch around Guerrero whenever possible. Nothing suggests Guerrero will slow down when given pitches to hit.

The Dodgers’ starting rotation has been utterly dominant, but Guerrero has hit elite pitching this month. He has hit all kinds of pitching. The pressure will be on the guys hitting behind him — Alejandro Kirk, Daulton Varsho and Ernie Clement — to make the Dodgers pay when they refuse to engage Guerrero.

Schoenfield: It will be a little more difficult. Though the Dodgers, like the Mariners, strike out a lot, they also chase out of the zone far less often than Seattle (third-lowest chase rate in the regular season compared with 17th for the Mariners). The scouting reports on Yesavage were thin at the start of the playoffs, but now have three additional games to consider his tendencies. He was a little lucky to escape those two bases-loaded jams against the Mariners and given that his control can waver — he had three walks in each of his two ALCS starts — he will have to be a little more crisp against the Dodgers.

Vlad Jr. has been scorching hot all month. What should we expect from him in the World Series?

Castillo: See above. More of the same, unless the Dodgers refuse to pitch to him. We saw the Yankees and Mariners occasionally dabble with not attacking Guerrero, but they did not avoid him, for the most part. The series could hinge on how that dynamic plays out.

Schoenfield: He’s so locked in that you would expect it to continue. On the other hand, this Dodgers rotation has much better swing-and-miss stuff than Seattle’s rotation, which was missing Bryan Woo and featured a subpar Logan Gilbert.

Guerrero hit just 23 home runs in the regular season. Getting the ball in the air, like he has been doing in the playoffs, isn’t something he did consistently during the regular season, when he had several homerless dry spells.

Which other player is most crucial to the Blue Jays’ chances of winning a title?

Castillo: The bullpen is the Blue Jays’ weakest link, which makes Louis Varland significant in this series. Varland is John Schneider’s most trusted reliever. The right-hander has pitched in 10 of the Blue Jays’ 11 playoff games, often in the biggest spots in the middle innings. He has recorded more than three outs three times.

The Blue Jays could carry up to four left-handed relievers in their bullpen — Mason Fluharty, Brendon Little, Eric Lauer and Justin Bruihl — to counter Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy, but those lefties have struggled in the postseason.

Varland, whose splits during the regular season weren’t all that drastic (a .662 OPS against vs. RHH and a .716 .OPS against vs. LHH) will surely be in a huge spot against one of the Dodgers’ left-handed sluggers. Jeff Hoffman might be Toronto’s closer, but Varland, acquired at the trade deadline from the Twins, is the team’s best reliever, and the Blue Jays need him to secure huge outs.

Schoenfield: George Springer. The Blue Jays haven’t averaged 6.5 runs per game in the postseason just because of Vlad. They got production from the entire lineup — the bottom third was especially vital in the ALCS — and Springer delivered the series-winning home run against the Mariners. He’s hitting .239/.321/.609 in the postseason with four home runs and has, of course, been a postseason standout throughout his career, including winning World Series MVP honors in 2017.

Springer had a terrific regular season as well with no obvious holes in his game. He ranked 24th in the majors with an .885 OPS against pitches of 96-plus mph and 20th in the majors against offspeed pitches (sliders, curves, splitters, changeups). His at-bats leading off games will be key to getting the Blue Jays going.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Odds of winning: 59.6%

Team temperature: 122°

What is the No. 1 factor that has carried the Dodgers back to the World Series?

Jeff Passan: Their extraordinary starting pitching. In Los Angeles’ 10 games this postseason, its four starters — Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani — have systematically dissected Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Milwaukee’s offenses. In 64⅓ innings, they have a 1.40 ERA. It’s not by accident. Batters are hitting .132/.207/.201 against them. They have struck out four times as many as they’ve walked and allowed just two home runs.

Now, it’s the Mariners’ turn. Their offense has had moments. They’re capable. But they haven’t seen a rotation like the Dodgers’ yet.

Alden Gonzalez: It is their four starting pitchers, as Jeff noted. But the evolution of a fifth one, Roki Sasaki, has been just as critical. The Dodgers were searching for answers late in games when October arrived, and had it not been for Sasaki recapturing the velocity on his fastball and quickly adapting to a high-leverage bullpen role, they likely would not be here. The Dodgers have won nine of their 10 postseason games, and Sasaki has recorded the final out in five of them. In another, the Game 4 clincher in the NLDS, he pitched three perfect innings.

Will it/won’t it continue against the Blue Jays?

Gonzalez: The long layoff could be a boon for Sasaki, who had been in uncharted territory from a workload standpoint. Having essentially six days off means he will face few, if any, restrictions in the World Series. And if his arm is fresh and his command is right, opposing hitters usually don’t have much of a chance against his fastball-splitter combination.

One potential advantage for the Blue Jays, though, is that the book is essentially out on Sasaki by now, and they’ll have a much better feel for how to attack him than the Reds and Phillies, who both had little to work with because Sasaki’s stuff was so much better than what he displayed earlier this season. If the Blue Jays can get to him, the Dodgers will be left with few other options late in games.

Passan: Toronto has scored the most runs, hit the most home runs and struck out at the lowest rate of any team this postseason. If any playoff offense can get to the Dodgers, it’s the Blue Jays’ offense. This series will be the unstoppable force vs. the immovable object.

Dodgers pitchers average 96.8 mph on their fastballs. Toronto batters are hitting .292 off 97-mph-plus heaters, and they’ve struck out in just six of the 50 plate appearances that ended with those pitches. Expect even more two-strike spin from the team that averages just 35% fastballs on potential putaway pitches.

All of the Dodgers’ starters have at least four pitches — Yamamoto throws six and Ohtani seven — a buffet unfortunate to hitters. If Toronto can’t get to them, we’re looking at one of the greatest postseasons ever, like the 1983 Orioles but sustained over an even longer stretch.

It has been a mixed postseason for Shohei Ohtani. What should we expect from him in the World Series?

Gonzalez: When Ohtani gets going offensively — and if his performance in the pennant clincher wasn’t evidence of him getting back on track, I don’t know what is — he tends to carry it for a while. His career numbers against Blue Jays starters Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer are not great (6-for-31 with 14 strikeouts and zero walks), and a long layoff normally is not a good for hitters.

Any concern about how the time off between the end of the NLCS and the start of the World Series might negatively impact Ohtani’s offense should easily be made up by how it could positively impact his pitching. Ohtani’s six scoreless innings in NLCS Game 4 came on 12 days’ rest; his five no-hit innings against the Phillies on Sept. 16 came on 11 days’ rest.

Passan: It’s fair to say that he won’t match Game 4 of the NLCS, one of the greatest individual performances in baseball history. But Ohtani will get at least one start in the World Series, allowing him to at least recreate some portion of his masterpiece.

And at this point, anyone who doubts Ohtani’s ability to do anything hasn’t been paying attention. The reason there was such surprise at his struggles is because they’re such an unfamiliar sight. And the unfamiliarity comes from the rarity. If any of what he found at the plate in Game 4 carries over, expect fireworks.

Which other player is most crucial to the Dodgers’ chances of going back to back?

Gonzalez: Starting pitching will continue to lead the way for the Dodgers, who combined to slash just .223/.313/.364 at the plate over the past two rounds. They know they have to do better if they’re going to repeat as champions. And Freddie Freeman, in particular, will be key.

The Blue Jays’ rotation is all right-handed, which means Freeman will hit in the No. 3 spot of the Dodgers’ lineup, behind Ohtani and Mookie Betts. When the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in last year’s World Series, it was Freeman who won MVP. But he’s slashing just .231/.333/.410 in these playoffs, and though he hit better against the Brewers, the Dodgers would love to see more power out of him on the biggest stage. He should be presented with plenty of RBI opportunities.

Passan: No pitcher has been better than Blake Snell this season, and with him lined up to get the ball in Game 1 — same as he did in the wild-card series and NLCS — Snell will get to set the tone of the series and then be in line to pitch a potential clincher. In 21 innings, Snell has allowed 11 baserunners and struck out 28. He hasn’t yielded a home run.

He has been the personification of whom the Dodgers hoped they were getting when they signed him last winter to a five-year, $182.5 million contract. If he replicates his performances over the first three rounds of the postseason, the Dodgers won’t need much offensive support to back him up, and Snell will get to celebrate his first championship.

The Los Angeles Dodgers entered the 2025 MLB regular season as the largest title favorites in over two decades, and they’ll head into the 2025 World Series as the overwhelming favorites to win their second straight championship.

Los Angeles opened as the -210 favorite to win the World Series over the Toronto Blue Jays, who opened at +175, according to ESPN BET odds. The series spread opened at Dodgers -1.5 (-115) to the Jays’ +1.5 (-105).

The Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of their American League Championship Series on Monday, sending Toronto to its first World Series since 1993.

If the Dodgers were to capture another Commissioner’s Trophy, they’ll do so as wire-to-wire favorites for the second consecutive season, becoming the first team to accomplish that feat since the New York Yankees in 1999 and 2000, according to data from SportsOddsHistory.com.

Despite their short odds all season — even as they struggled at times, ultimately obtaining the National League’s third seed — the Dodgers were well supported by the betting public. ESPN BET reports nearly a third of all of its World Series tickets, including settled bets, backing LA; among playoff teams, the Dodgers have garnered 44.4% of the handle since the beginning of the postseason.

BetMGM also had significant liability on a Los Angeles title, with senior trader Halvor Egeland saying before the championship series that the Dodgers winning it all “would make many bettors happy” and “the sportsbook will be cheering for whichever team comes out of the American League with the Blue Jays being the best outcome.”

Toronto was initially viewed as a relative World Series long shot across the sportsbook marketplace, entering the season with consensus +6000 odds. It attracted a bit of attention from bettors after a late-season surge that ended with the Blue Jays as the AL’s top seed, but they still ended up with only 7.7% of the wagers overall at ESPN BET.

Game 1 of the World Series is Friday at Rogers Centre. The home Blue Jays opened at +125 on the money line, with the Dodgers taking road favorite status at -150.

TORONTO — Nothing changed for the Toronto Blue Jays, Major League Baseball’s premier comeback artists in this dream of a season, before George Springer completed the franchise’s most important comeback since 1993 in their 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Monday.

The Blue Jays desperately needed runs in the seventh inning, so manager John Schneider, in keeping with a superstition he has shared with Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins since Opening Day, sat down on the bench in the home dugout at Rogers Centre and watched the surreal sequence unfold. The bottom third of Toronto’s batting order, a pesky group of journeymen and defensive stalwarts and overlooked players who have found a home north of the border, did not flinch with Mariners ace Bryan Woo on the mound in relief. Instead, they sparked a rally.

And Springer, the starring actor in so many October dramas on another team in a previous life, did not deviate from his preparation. He stayed out of the batting cage. He stayed off the tablet so many of his peers use to analyze themselves and their foes.

“He’s very clear minded,” Popkins said. “He feels things.”

And Springer felt what was coming when he hobbled into the batter’s box with runners on second and third, the Blue Jays down two runs, and Rogers Centre on the verge of its roof busting open.

The Mariners, knowing he was hampered by a sore right knee after he was hit on the kneecap by a pitch in Game 5, sought to establish the inner half of the plate with two-seam fastballs against Springer all game. The game plan was obvious when he led off the top of the first inning and George Kirby brushed him off the plate with two two-seamers to begin the encounter.

Mariners reliever Eduard Bazardo, summoned by manager Dan Wilson over closer Andres Munoz to face Springer eight outs from the franchise’s first trip to the World Series, stayed with the approach. Bazardo’s first pitch was a two-seam fastball inside and off the plate. The second pitch was another two-seamer.

That one, however, caught too much of the plate and Springer turned on it, launching the ball into the seats in left field for a go-ahead, three-run home run not too far from where Joe Carter had deposited a baseball to win the Blue Jays the 1993 World Series.

“I knew I got the guy in from third, which was all I was trying to do and then I started to watch the outfielder,” Springer said. “I watched what happened and I sort of blacked out after that.”

This blast, after Toronto secured six more outs, sent the Blue Jays to the World Series for the first time since Carter’s heroics. They’ll face the Los Angeles Dodgers, the reigning champions attempting to become the first team to repeat in 25 years. Game 1 is scheduled for Friday at Rogers Centre.

“Any time your back leg’s compromised, it’s a little harder to turn,” Popkins said. “But he had one turn left so they kind of fell into a trap there.”

It was Springer’s 23rd career postseason home run, tied for third most in postseason history.

“It leaked a little bit over the heart [of the plate],” Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh said of the pitch Springer hit. “Maybe should’ve gone with a different pitch.”

Springer hit the first 19 of his postseason homers while playing center field for the Houston Astros for five Octobers. The other four have come in this postseason, his third trip to the playoffs with the Blue Jays since signing a six-year, $150 million contract in January 2021. His first two playoff appearances in Toronto resulted in zero wins in four games.

This year, the Blue Jays, after vaulting from 74 wins and last place in the American League East to 94 wins and division champions, are four wins from the third World Series in franchise history. Though Springer provided Monday’s heroics, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was named ALCS MVP after going 10-for-26 (.385) with 3 home runs, 3 doubles and a 1.330 OPS in the series.

After the game, Guerrero, who signed a 14-year, $500 million contract extension to remain with the organization that signed him at 16 years old, was in tears on the field as he addressed a raucous crowd that stayed to celebrate.

“I was born here,” said Guerrero, who was born in Montreal while his father played for the Expos. “I grew up in the Dominican, and then from the moment that I signed here, I knew I was going to be here my entire career. I knew I had to somehow make all the fans, the entire country, proud of me, of my team. And like I always say, my challenge is to bring the World Series here back to Canada.”

Guerrero loomed two batters after Springer when Bazardo chose to pitch to him. In the Blue Jays’ dugout, Schneider wondered if the Mariners would pitch around Springer or intentionally walk him with first base open and replace Bazardo with left-hander Gabe Speier to face the left-handed-hitting Nathan Lukes. But Bazardo stayed in.

Before the start of the bottom of the seventh, Guerrero said he went into the tunnel, got down on his knees and prayed for a win.

“Then, George hit the homer,” Guerrero said. “So, it was great.”

The home run was a fitting encapsulation of Springer’s season, one of resurgence from start to finish. Springer, 36, batted just .220 with 19 home runs and a .674 OPS in 2024, his fourth in Toronto and the fourth straight year his production declined. This year, he bounced back to become one of the best hitters in the majors, hitting .309 with 32 home runs and a .959 OPS as the Blue Jays’ full-time designated hitter to spearhead Toronto’s turnaround.

“We’ve just been reinforcing him to be who he has been his whole career,” Popkins said. “Go be violent. Go be aggressive. Don’t slow down. You’re a f—ing lion. Go attack and it just empowered him to be who he is.”

And there was nobody else the Blue Jays wanted at the plate in that spot in the seventh inning, with their season on the brink, than a hindered Springer.

“I had no doubt in my mind,” said Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette, who missed the series because of a knee injury.

Added Schneider: “It was almost like an out-of-body experience because of what he means to this team, to this organization.”

The heroics came days after Mariners fans booed when Springer was hit by a 95 mph sinker from Woo off the kneecap in Game 5 and cheered when he exited. The moment was not forgotten during the Blue Jays’ celebration. One Blue Jay noted during the postgame celebration that it was “fitting” that Springer ended the Mariners’ season after the episode.

More importantly, the home run, another that will live in Canadian baseball lore, extended the Blue Jays’ season for a chance to win it all.

“I love this team so much,” Springer said.

ESPN senior writer Buster Olney contributed to this report.