The Toronto Blue Jays will meet the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series starting Friday at Rogers Centre. Here’s what you need to know before Major League Baseball’s championship series begins.
Home field advantage: Toronto
Who hosts Games 1 and 2 — as well as the climactic seventh game — of the World Series has been determined by different means over the championship’s 122-year history. This season, the standings are based on the teams’ regular-season win percentage. The Blue Jays had a .580 win percentage compared to L.A.’s .574 mark, so Rogers Centre will host the first two games and Games 6 and 7 if necessary.
Tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
- Game 1: Friday, Oct. 24, 8 p.m. ET in Toronto
- Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. ET in Toronto
- Game 3: Monday, Oct. 27, 8 p.m. ET in Los Angeles
- Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 28, 8 p.m. ET in Los Angeles
- Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, Oct. 29, 8 p.m. ET in Los Angeles
- Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, Oct. 31, 8 p.m. ET in Toronto
- Game 7 (if necessary): Saturday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m. ET in Toronto
Ohtani bridesmaids
When Shohei Ohtani became a free agent in 2023 and made it clear he intended to leave the Los Angeles Angels, there were strong indications that he would sign with the Blue Jays. It turns out that he and agent Nez Balelo were using the negotiations with Toronto as leverage to get a 10-year, US$700 million deal to stay in L.A. but move to the Dodgers.
Since joining the Dodgers blue, Ohtani has won the NL MVP and is aiming for back-to-back World Series. He’s coming off a season in which he hit 55 home runs, one more than last year’s total, and 102 RBIs. He also returned to the mound as a starting pitcher, making 14 starts and striking out 62 batters across 47 innings.
He’s made two postseason starts in 2025, striking out 19 batters across 12 innings, and will surely take to the mound against Toronto in the Fall Classic.
Prolific Dodgers pitching
On the subject of Ohtani, a luxury in the starting rotation, the Dodgers’ pitching has been spectacular throughout the postseason. Los Angeles enters the World Series with a 9-1 playoff record, losing only one game to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS and making quick work of the Milwaukee Brewers, who led the majors with 97 wins this season.
Blake Snell (0.86 ERA and 28 strikeouts in three starts), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1.83 ERA and 18 strikeouts in three starts), Tyler Glasnow (0.68 ERA and 18 strikeouts in three games) and Ohtani have made up a historically elite rotation. If the Blue Jays have any hope of supplanting the reigning champs, it starts with getting to the Dodgers’ starters.
Vlad’s moment
While the Dodgers make headlines with a big payroll and tons of stars, it’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who is earning his stripes this October. Guerrero enters the Fall Classic with six home runs, 19 hits and a slash line of .442/.510/.930. The 26-year-old first baseman has put the Blue Jays on his back with Bo Bichette missing the ALDS and ALCS, and while Bichette could return by Friday’s Game 1, all eyes will be on Vlad against the Dodgers.
Pesky Blue Jays
The Blue Jays have quickly become known as the comeback kids thanks to their uncanny ability to deliver in clutch moments when down on the scoreboard. It’s largely thanks to their collective approach at the plate, with hitters limiting strikeouts and producing contact. Guerrero and Ernie Clement, two of Toronto’s best, have struck out a combined five times in 85 postseason at-bats.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who started Toronto’s final four ALCS games, has one strikeout in 21 at-bats. Toronto hitters enter the World Series with a 14.8 K%, the lowest among postseason teams, a .296 combined batting average and a 143 team wRC+. It won’t be easy against the Dodgers, but the Blue Jays are in a good spot.
Will this be the return of Bo?
Bichette says he’s ready to play. If it’s coming from the man himself, it would be wise to believe it, and now Bichette has three days to prepare for Game 1. He has resumed running the bases, and all indications are that he’s improved with each passing day from a knee injury sustained in late September.
It’s noteworthy that Toronto has made it this far without Bichette’s bat. He was tied for second in baseball with 181 hits despite playing 18 games fewer than Bobby Witt Jr., and trailed only Aaron Judge (.331) in league batting average. Questions will still linger ahead of Friday. If Bichette does crack the World Series roster, will he play shortstop? Andres Gimenez has filled in admirably in his absence. George Springer has been the team’s full-time designated hitter for the entire postseason and isn’t likely to play the field anytime soon.
Only time will tell.
Wage gap
Los Angeles has one of the highest payrolls in all of baseball, spending about $509.5 million on players this season, with their $341.5 million payroll plus $168 million in projected luxury tax. That nearly doubles the Blue Jays’ $252.7 million payroll with a projected $13.4 million in tax.
History
The Dodgers’ eight World Series championships are fifth in MLB history. This year will be their 23rd appearance in the Fall Classic, playing out of both Brooklyn, N.Y., and Los Angeles.
It’s Toronto’s third trip to the World Series, having won the previous appearances in the championship series in 1992 and 1993. The Blue Jays are tied with the Florida Marlins, L.A. Angels and Washington Nationals for having perfect winning percentages in the World Series.
Ballparks
Despite opening 37 years apart, Dodger Stadium and Rogers Centre are the third and sixth-oldest stadiums in Major League Baseball, respectively. L.A.’s ballpark was opened in 1962 and seats 56,000 fans, easily the most in MLB. Rogers Centre opened in 1989 and can hold approximately 42,000 spectators, 10th in the league.
With files from The Canadian Press