MLB World Series 2025 Top Storylines in Dodgers vs. Blue Jays Fall Classic Bracket
After a thrilling victory over the Seattle Mariners in Game 7 of the ALCS, the Toronto Blue Jays will square off with the NLCS winners, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the 2025 World Series.
A series of superstars, it will feature the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Bo Bichette, but among the most interesting stories entering this year's Fall Classic involve an unsung hero with a knack for the dramatic in championship games and a legendary player-turned-coach who has devoted his life to the game of baseball finally having his chance to go win a world championship.
Ahead of the World Series, kicking off Friday at 8:00 p.m. EST on Fox, dive deeper into those narratives and more with this look at the storylines to track in this year's extravaganza.
Postseason Hero George Springer Blasts Toronto Into the Fall Classic
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George Springer has a knack for coming up big in the highest pressure situations and Monday night in Toronto, he once again delivered when the lights were brightest and the moment biggest.
Moments after Seattle manager Dan Wilson pulled Bryan Woo for Eduardo Bazardo in the seventh inning of Game 7, the Blue Jays lead-off hitter stepped to the plate with the opportunity to make another magical moment.
Nursing a bum knee after being hit by a pitch in Game 5, Springer summoned that October magic and hit a three-run homer that catapulted the Blue Jays to the lead and ultimately won them the game.
The 36-year-old right-fielder has made a career of coming up big in the postseason, with a .264/.343/.540 slash line, 23 homers, and 47 RBIs, mostly with the Houston Astros. It is for that team that his previous, most memorable hit came in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series.
Against the Dodgers, ironically enough, Springer blasted the game-winning homer and earned World Series MVP honors.
A little older now but still mightily effective, Springer hit .309 with 32 home runs and 84 RBI this season, proving he is still a potent threat at the lead-off position. As someone who has played his best ball at the most crucial of times, and has beaten the Dodgers when it matters most, the veteran could prove to be the secret weapon for a Blue Jays team for whom younger stars such as Vlad Jr. and Bo Bichette get all the attention.
He is not as young as he once was, and he was clearly limping as he rounded the bases Monday, but full speed will not be an issue if he can hit the ball out of the park and propel the Blue Jays to their first World Series title since 1993.
Donnie Baseball's Finally Heading to the World Series
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For more than 40 years, Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly has devoted himself to the game of baseball.
He was the captain for a Yankees team that regularly let him down, achieving just one playoff appearance during his legendary 14-year stint with the team.
That one playoff appearance came in the 1995, against the Seattle Mariners, where he hit .417 with six RBIs, including a two-run double that looked to have the Yankees in a position to win, only for the team's bullpen to fall apart.
After retiring from the sport, he spent six seasons managing the very team his current squad will battle in the World Series, the Dodgers, and seven seasons managing the Miami Marlins.
In his fourth season with Toronto, one of the most beloved players of his generation is finally heading to the Fall Classic, with a chance to achieve the World Series title that eluded him as a player.
Having defeated the Mariners that ended his World Series dreams three decades ago, he now has the chance to hoist the Commissioner's Trophy by defeating the very team he once tried to manage to the Fall Classic.
A win for the Blue Jays would be a win for The Hit Man, a poetic end to a story that makes it impossible not to be romantic about baseball.
Can Los Angeles Build on Their Dynasty?
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With the trade for Mookie Betts in 2020, and the decision to sign Freddie Freeman in 2022, the Dodgers made it abundantly clear that they were all-in in their attempt to win a World Series.
The blockbuster, $700 million deal to land Shohei Ohtani was the latest addition by a front office hellbent on winning the top prize in baseball.
The financial commitments paid off last season as the team won the World Series, when all three superstars contributed, and Freeman was named the MVP.
Now, the defending champions have the opportunity to run it back, becoming the first team to repeat since the Yankees' dynasty of the late 1990s.
Win or lose, the Dodgers have already established a dynasty. The 2025 Fall Classic will be their fifth appearance since 2017, with a chance to win their third since 2020.
They are the early favorites to win this year's series and capture the ninth title in franchise history, and rightfully so. Ohtani was brilliant in the NLCS, with one of the greatest single-player performance in the long history of baseball. Freeman has proven his ability to rise to the occasion. Betts is, arguably, the most complete player in the game.
They have the tools necessary to win it all and do so in dominant fashion.
The question will be whether the short bye that they have enjoyed due to their sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS, will help or hinder their momentum.
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