{"id":232165,"date":"2025-10-22T09:50:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T09:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/232165\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T09:50:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T09:50:08","slug":"world-series-predictions-our-experts-pick-whether-the-dodgers-or-blue-jays-will-be-champs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/232165\/","title":{"rendered":"World Series predictions: Our experts pick whether the Dodgers or Blue Jays will be champs"},"content":{"rendered":"

After an October that has been filled with dramatic moments in winner-takes-all contests, we have finally reached the final round of the MLB postseason. About the only folks this postseason who haven\u2019t had their heart rates tested yet are the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have cruised to a 9-1 record thus far. The Toronto Blue Jays had a relatively easy time dispatching the New York Yankees, but they had to survive a thrilling seven-game American League Championship Series that came down to a fateful pitching decision<\/a> in the bottom of the seventh inning in Game 7.<\/p>\n

Before the postseason began, we polled our staff<\/a> to see who they predicted would be crowned the 2025 World Series champion. An overwhelming majority of our staff (72 percent) had the Seattle Mariners representing the American League, while 72 percent saw the Philadelphia Phillies winning the National League pennant. Only 4 percent of our staff predicted the Blue Jays to win the AL side, while 12 percent saw the Dodgers repeating as NL champs.<\/p>\n

Now that we\u2019ve played three rounds this postseason, what do our crystal balls tell us? Here\u2019s how The Athletic\u2019s MLB staff see the 2025 Fall Classic unfolding:<\/p>\n

Who will win the World Series?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n The Dodgers are aiming to be MLB\u2019s first repeat champion since 2000. (Elsa \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Although our staff was skeptical of the Dodgers at the start of the postseason, it\u2019s not surprising to see the vast majority of the group select the team that many had anointed the World Series favorite before the offseason even ended. The Blue Jays have been impressive, but the Dodgers have dominated and look like the superteam they began assembling last winter. Below is a selection of our experts\u2019 thoughts on why they think their pick to win the World Series will be raising the trophy soon:<\/p>\n

Jayson Stark (LA):\u00a0I picked the Phillies to beat them. Then I picked the Brewers to beat them. I think the Blue Jays are a tough match-up for them, but I\u2019m done picking against the Dodgers. They\u2019re a team on a mission with a rotation on a mission. Dodgers in 6.<\/p>\n

Jen McCaffrey (TOR):\u00a0The Dodgers are the favorite, but the Jays have something intangible that\u2019s propelled them all season. Coupled with a dangerous offense and solid veteran pitching they could make this an interesting series.<\/p>\n

Andrew Baggarly (LA):\u00a0I\u2019m thinking of 2012 when the Giants were heavy underdogs to Detroit and they had Miguel Cabrera, who\u2019d become the first Triple Crown winner in a generation. The Giants contained Cabrera and swept the series (besting a young Max Scherzer along the way). So the Blue Jays (and Scherzer) have a template. Good luck following it against Shohei Ohtani, whose impact and accomplishments make a Triple Crown look cute by comparison.<\/p>\n

Tyler Kepner (TOR):\u00a0You can\u2019t beat the Blue Jays by trying to strike them out. These hitters make contact and do damage with it. That will counteract the clear pitching edge the Dodgers had in the NL playoffs.<\/p>\n

Katie Woo (LA): The Dodgers put on a starting pitching clinic in the NLCS. They have addressed their bullpen concerns by using another rotation arm in Roki Sasaki as their de facto closer. They have an embarrassment of pitching riches. They also have Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman atop their lineup, but who cares what the offense looks like when your rotation consists of four aces.<\/p>\n

Steve Berman (TOR): If the Dodgers jump out to an early 2-0 series lead, it\u2019s curtains. But the Blue Jays\u2019 home-field advantage might be enough to stop the Dodgers\u2019 early onslaught. An entire country will be behind the Blue Jays, who can hold their own offensively and defend better than the Dodgers. They\u2019ll have to crack the code on L.A.\u2019s starting pitching, though.<\/p>\n

Levi Weaver (LA): Because the Toronto Blue Jays are merely a baseball team. A very good one \u2014 better, at this point, than any other baseball team in the American League (and probably most of the National League ones, too!). But they are, unless I\u2019m mistaken, still a baseball team.<\/p>\n

The best example I can give you is that this is like the No. 1 seller on Etsy going up against Amazon.com. No disrespect to those custom-made stickers; they\u2019re honestly so impressive. But (motions at the entire western horizon) they have enough money to blot out the sun, and they spent it to buy all the oxygen in your whole country.<\/p>\n

Melissa Lockard (TOR):\u00a0The Dodgers breezed through an easy NLCS on the strength of their starting pitching and their power, while the Blue Jays had to claw their way through a crazy seven-game series. This feels like a mismatch on paper, but so did the Oakland A\u2019s vs. the Dodgers in 1988 and we all know how that turned out. The Blue Jays even have two stars with banged up knees to choose from for the big hero moment.<\/p>\n

Chad Jennings (LA):\u00a0It\u2019s not just that the Dodgers have better pitching \u2014 the Mariners had better pitching, too \u2014 but the Dodgers\u2019 rotation feels far less likely to break on this stage. Their rotation is too good, and concerns about the Dodgers\u2019 bullpen could also apply to the Blue Jays. That said, the Blue Jays have been proving me wrong all year.<\/p>\n

Johnny Flores Jr. (TOR):\u00a0The bottom of the Blue Jays\u2019 order will provide the top of the order enough cracks at whatever Dodgers starter is out there.<\/p>\n

Sam Blum (LA):\u00a0Well, I\u2019ve picked against the Dodgers every series so far, and I\u2019ve been wrong. They built this team for October, and they\u2019re not 9-1 this postseason by accident. They also have the benefit of a fully rested pitching staff.<\/p>\n

Stephen Nesbitt (LA):\u00a0Pitching and defense wins championships. And if the Dodgers are light in those areas, they also have the greatest player in baseball history leading off ahead of two future Hall of Famers.<\/p>\n

Charlotte Varnes (LA):\u00a0The Dodgers\u2019 pitching is having a historic postseason, and they\u2019ve already dominated some of the league\u2019s top offenses this October. What\u2019s another one? Plus, the Blue Jays\u2019 rotation lacks the lefties necessary to shut down the Dodgers\u2019 stars.<\/p>\n

Cody Stavenhagen (LA):\u00a0This series might be tighter and more tense than some are expecting. But the Dodgers\u2019 depth of talent will ultimately win out in six or seven games. Roki Sasaki emerging as a capable closer is no small thing for a bullpen that has needed help throughout the year. L.A. should have the starting pitching edge, and Toronto\u2019s bullpen might not have the horses to get through the heart of the Dodgers\u2019 order in a long series.<\/p>\n

Andy McCullough (LA):\u00a0Folks, have you heard about this guy, Shohei Ohtani?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After an October that has been filled with dramatic moments in winner-takes-all contests, we have finally reached the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[592,4996,64,63,1186,5156,5158,5256,5257,5258,5259,5260,5163,5261,5262,1187,1188,5159,2364,591,1830,2704,5263,2365,5160,1189,5157,5162,85,2366,1190,2367,5161,5264],"class_list":["post-232165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-arizona-diamondbacks","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-cleveland-guardians","tag-colorado-rockies","tag-detroit-tigers","tag-houston-astros","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-los-angeles-angels","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-miami-marlins","tag-milwaukee-brewers","tag-minnesota-twins","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-mets","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-oakland-athletics","tag-philadelphia-phillies","tag-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-seattle-mariners","tag-sports","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-tampa-bay-rays","tag-texas-rangers","tag-toronto-blue-jays","tag-washington-nationals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}