The hallmark of the baseball season, the World Series kicks off tonight with the Los Angeles Dodgers heading to Toronto to play the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays serve as the hosts for the first few games, winning 94 games in the regular season to the Dodgers’ 93. After Toronto’s achingly close series against the Mariners lasted seven games, they head into the World Series with an unexpected pitcher featuring as their starter. Trey Yesavage, who only pitched in three regular season games, will take the mound
on the biggest stage.
Yesavage made three appearances in the postseason, as well, firing off 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his first playoff appearance against the New York Yankees, striking out 11 in the process. His following game, this time in the ALCS, was a bumpy four innings with five runs allowed. Yet he came through again with a 5 2/3 inning outing, only allowing two earned runs, to help the Blue Jays tie up the ALCS. Per BaseballSavant, Yesavage has a three-pitch mix with a particularly effective splitter that generated a 57.1% whiff rate. It’s been a stunning ascent for Yesavage, starting this season all the way down at Single-A, and working his way up to the most prominent designation a starting pitcher can earn, the nod for the first game of the World Series.
As for the Dodgers, their star-studded rotation will lean on Blake Snell for Game 1. His dominance this postseason has been a central storyline in Los Angeles’ road to the World Series. His 0.86 ERA through 21 innings is every bit the reflection of his multi-Cy Young award-winning talent. It had been a while since Snell featured in the playoffs, last making a postseason appearance for the Padres back in 2022. Snell only pitched 61 1/3 innings this year, but it’s understandable that the Dodgers wanted to manage his workload to ensure this type of production come October.
Atop the lineup, superstar Shohei Ohtani makes the start at designated hitter. After a slow start to his postseason, Ohtani came through with an awe-inspiring three-home run performance against the Milwaukee Brewers to book the Dodgers’ ticket to the World Series. It will be a tough task for any rotation to completely shut him down. If they can’t, he might lead his team to back-to-back championships in his first two seasons with Los Angeles.
Around the infield, Max Muncy, Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman, and Freddie Freeman fill their usual roles. Will Smith starts behind the plate.
Andy Pages is responsible for center field, joined by Kike Hernandez in left field and Teoscar Hernandez in right field.
Toronto’s lineup starts with their own designated hitter, George Springer, at leadoff. After earning a place in Blue Jays lore with his incredible Game 7 homer, Springer will look to set the tone for Toronto. He’s batting just .239 this postseason, but he’s made it count with four home runs and a .930 OPS.
The infield receives a revitalization with the return of Bo Bichette at second base. After suffering an injury in early September, Bichette missed nearly two months of action. It came in the middle of a scorching streak for Bichette, as well, as he was hitting .358 over his last 120 plate appearances. If he finds that form again, his return could be one of the central influences on the outcome of the World Series.
Joining Bichette in the infield is third baseman Ernie Clement, shortstop Andres Gimenez, and first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. After Toronto’s years-long struggle to come through with postseason success, Guerrero Jr. has been the catalyst this postseason with a .442 batting average, six home runs, 12 RBIs, and a 1.440 OPS across 43 ABs. Alejandro Kirk starts at catcher.
In the outfield, Davis Schneider, Daulton Varsho, and Myles Straw start left to right. While that’s not the most imposing set of bats, they provided immense value on defense this year. As a club, Toronto finished first with a 45 fielding run value, a significant disparity between them and Los Angeles’ 1 fielding run value
Full lineups can be seen below. Tonight’s game is set for first pitch at 7 p.m. CST and will be available on FOX and nationally ESPN Radio.
