One League Championship Series went four games and was thoroughly dominated by pitching. The other was offense-heavy and went a full seven games, culminating in Monday night’s winner-take-all, where the Blue Jays dispatched the Mariners behind George Springer’s late three-run home run.
It is perhaps inevitable, then, that our All-LCS team is almost split down the middle.
Most of the hitters come from the American League series, which was occasionally a slugfest and ended with an iconic home run. Of the 32 home runs hit in this round, 25 were hit by either the Mariners or Blue Jays, each of which had a game in which they scored in double digits.
The pitchers, on the other hand, lean toward the National League series — in which even the best hitter was also a pitcher. The Brewers had a .384 OPS in the NLCS — a collective .118/.191/.193 slash line — and we could have filled our All-LCS rotation with nothing but Dodgers. Of the 13 pitchers who threw more than five innings in this round, the four lowest ERAs belonged to the four Los Angeles starters.
These were the best of the best in the League Championship Series, each of which was capped by an all-time moment by a designated hitter.
C Cal Raleigh, Mariners (6-for-25, 6 R, 4 HR, 4 RBI, 4 BB)
The offensive numbers stand out — Raleigh was the home run leader for this round — but his quick-thinking double play to get out of trouble in Game 5 helped highlight his all-around impact. Will Smith also had a great series for the Dodgers, and Alejandro Kirk was plenty productive for the Blue Jays, but Raleigh played like a guy who might win an MVP award in a few weeks.
Raleigh closed out his historic 2025 campaign with one final long shot in Game 7 of the ALCS. (Cole Burston / Getty Images)
1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays (10-for-26, 3 2B, 3 HR, 3 RBI, 4 BB)
Two of most impressive hitters in this round played the same position in the same series. Guerrero and Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor both were excellent, and Naylor drove in the first run of Monday’s Game 7, but Guerrero was a bit better (six extra-base hits and only two strikeouts). Freddie Freeman also had a predictably productive series for the Dodgers.
2B Jorge Polanco, Mariners (6-for-26, 4 R, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB)
After a couple of home runs and a clinching, walk-off single in the Division Series, Polanco’s memorable postseason continued with four hits and five RBIs in the first two games of the ALCS. He wound up primarily DHing later in the series, but Polanco was still the most productive second baseman in the round. Dodgers second baseman Tommy Edman, though, gets credit for getting on base a lot and delivering a go-ahead double that chased Jacob Misiorowski from Game 3.
3B Eugenio Suárez, Mariners (8-for-26, 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB)
There’s some desire to give this to Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin, who had a .972 OPS as pretty much the only bright spot in their lineup (he stole two bases and had three of their five extra-base hits), but Suárez had a higher OPS and delivered one of the pivotal blows with his game-winning grand slam in Game 5. He was also tied for the more RBIs in the round.
SS Andrés Giménez, Blue Jays (6-for-23, 3 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB)
Moved from second base to shortstop because of Bo Bichette’s injury, Giménez was not an ideal fit for several reasons — he hadn’t played a ton of shortstop in recent years, and he was coming off a disappointing offensive season that produced a career-worst .598 OPS — but Giménez had a good final week of the regular season, delivered four hits in the division series, and then homered in Games 3 and 4 of the ALCS. Those were meaningful blows that helped spark the Blue Jays’ offense. The other shortstops hit well below .200 in this round, though Mookie Betts did make a memorable highlight reel play for the Dodgers.
LF Randy Arozarena, Mariners (5-for-25, 7 R, HR, RBI, 3 BB, 4 SB)
It’s between Arozarena and Kiké Hernández, who started in left field four times in the regular season and has doubled that number in the postseason. Hernández had a couple of doubles, but Arozarena led the round in stolen bases and tied for the lead in runs. Granted, he also led the round in strikeouts, but Arozarena was still plenty productive.
CF Julio Rodríguez, Mariners (6-for-25, 5 R, 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 5 BB)
Rodríguez was relatively quiet in the last three games of the division series, but he got on base three times in Game 1 of the LCS, which kicked off a tremendous series in which the face of the franchise very nearly lifted the Mariners to their first ever World Series. Rodríguez’s go-ahead home run in the decisive Game 7 was one of three homers for Seattle’s homegrown center fielder, and for a while it seemed that solo blast might hold up as the game-winner.
RF Addison Barger, Blue Jays (6-for-23, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 5 BB)
After playing third base in his first six playoff games, Barger moved to right field for Game 4 of the ALCS and finished the series strong, including three RBIs in the first three innings of Game 6 and getting on base twice in Game 7 (including in that pivotal seventh inning). Nathan Lukes also had a solid series for the Blue Jays while playing both outfield corners.
DH George Springer, Blue Jays (8-for-29, 7 R, 3 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB)
Springer was already having an excellent ALCS, but he became a Blue Jays legend — and padded his extensive postseason resume — with his go-ahead, three-run homer in Monday’s Game 7. Springer wound up tied for the most runs and most RBIs in this round. Was he actually the best designated hitter in the round? Thankfully, we didn’t actually have to decide, because the other elite DH can fit somewhere else.
SP Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers (10 K, 0.00 ERA, 3 HR, 1.643 OPS)
Obviously, Monday’s Game 7 thriller meant we had to find room for Springer on our All-LCS team. Lucky for us, Ohanti doesn’t have to fit at the DH position. No everyday hitter in the LCS had a higher OPS, and no pitcher had more strikeouts. Ohtani has been a marvel for many years, but his Game 4 showcase was perhaps the greatest postseason performance of all time. So, we’re counting Ohtani as a starting pitcher, but we’re expecting him to bring the bat to the ballpark, too.
SP Blake Snell, Dodgers (8 IP, 10 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.13 WHIP)
Snell set the standard in Game 1. He faced the minimum through eight innings, picking off the only batter who reached base against him. He also tied with Ohtani for LCS lead in strikeouts. Teammates followed his lead. The four Dodgers starters had the four lowest ERAs among pitchers who threw at least five innings this round.
SP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers (9 IP, 7 K, 1.00 ERA, 0.44 WHIP)
The bullpen might be the Dodgers’ greatest vulnerability, but they made it a non-issue by using a reliever for exactly one inning in the first two games. After Snell’s gem in Game 1, Yamamoto fired a complete game in Game 2. Coming back from injury, he never threw more than 86 pitches in last year’s postseason. Now fully healthy, he threw 111 in Game 2 (after throwing 113 in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series).
SP Kevin Gausman, Blue Jays (12 1/3 IP, 9 K, 2.19 ERA, 1.o5 WHIP)
Unless we’re going to give all of the rotation spots to the Dodgers — and Tyler Glasnow was good enough to deserve it — the last spot in our All-LCS rotation is basically a toss-up between Gausman and Mariners stater Bryce Miller (10 innings, 1.80 ERA, 1.10 WHIP), but we’ll go with Gausman for the added strikeouts, fewer baserunners, and the scoreless inning of relief in Game 7. Honorable mentions go to Mariners starter George Kirby and Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage, each of whom followed a bad start early in the series with a much better start in a must-win situation.
LEG Max Scherzer, Blue Jays (5 2/3 IP, 5 K, 3.18 ERA, 1.24 WHIP)
If Clayton Kershaw can make the All-Star Game as a commissioner’s “Legend Pick,” then by golly, we can do the same with Scherzer on our All-LCS team. The 41-year-old was not one of the top three or four starting pitchers in this round, but his Game 4 effort to tie the ALCS was among the most memorable performances of the entire postseason. At 41 years old, Scherzer was so bad at the end of the season (9.00 ERA in his last six starts) that the Blue Jays left him off their Division Series roster, but they needed him to round out the rotation in the ALCS, and he delivered a fiery throwback that both showed his age (less than a strikeout per inning) but also his experience and legendary competitiveness.
Scherzer’s fiery competitiveness was on full display during the ALCS. (Alika Jenner / Getty Images)
RP Jared Koenig, Brewers (3 G, 4 IP, 6 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP)
The Brewers’ pitching wasn’t the problem: Jacob Misiorowski and Quinn Priester each pitched well in bulk relief outings, and Koenig did what he could to quiet the heart of the Dodgers’ lineup. Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Tommy Edman were a combined 0-for-8 with five strikeouts against him. The Brewers had a respectable 3.71 ERA in the NLCS, and their bullpen had a 2.52 with 30 strikeouts in 25 innings.
RP Louis Varland, Blue Jays (6 G, 7 IP, 8 K, 2.57 ERA, 0.71 WHIP)
Varland pitched around a leadoff double in Game 1, struck out three in Game 2, got three straight outs in Game 4, got four outs without a hit in Game 5, got four outs again in Game 6, and pitched out of a fourth-inning jam in Game 7. The downside: within all of those good results, Varland allowed a go-ahead, three-run homer in Game 2 and coughed up Cal Raleigh’s homer in Game 7. It might simply be the byproduct of being used so often as Varland was clearly the Blue Jays’ go-to arm out of the pen.
CP Jeff Hoffman, Blue Jays (4 G, 5 IP, SV, 10 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.40WHIP)
After pitching two hitless innings in Game 6, Hoffman got his first save of the series in Game 7. He allowed a surprising number of runs in the regular season (4.37 ERA), but Hoffman was at his best when the Blue Jays needed him most. Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz was also good in his three scoreless innings of the ALCS. Dodgers closer Roki Sasaki was also good in Games 3 and 4, but Blake Treinen had to — by the skin of his teeth — bail Sasaki out of his first postseason stumble in Game 1.