Dodgers News: World Series Storylines to Keep an Eye On for the Dodgers

TORONTO—The Los Angeles Dodgers are heading to Toronto to kick off the 2025 World Series against the American League champion Blue Jays.

However, as with any World Series, it will be filled with storylines to watch, such as the Ohtani plane incident from the 2024 offseason, Kendrick Lamar vs Drake, or the United States vs Canada.

However, for the Dodgers, there’s a bit more to unpack before they try to win their second consecutive World Series.

Has Shohei Ohtani (the Hitter) Returned?

The main question on everyone’s minds entering the World Series is whether the Game Four clinching performance during the National League Championship Series by Shohei Ohtani woke up the three-time MVP’s bat.

Despite a two-home run effort in Game One of the National League Wild Card Series against the Cincinnati Reds, Ohtani was human for the rest of the postseason until Game Four of the NLCS.

In between then and that final game, Ohtani was just 6-for-38 in October with 17 strikeouts, and the slump got so bad that Ohtani took on field batting practice, something he never does during the regular season.

Well, whatever he did worked as his historic performance in the final game of the NLCS, where the left-handed hitting slugger clobbered three home runs while pitching six scoreless innings with ten punchouts, a start so good that it earned him NLCS MVP honors.

Did that game awaken a monster?

“I mean, you can only contain Shohei for so long,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman commented following his team’s sweep of the Brewers.

The Dodgers have already played like a juggernaut with Ohtani’s bat on ice. Having him active only makes it harder to stop them.

With the Toronto Blue Jays only having three left-handers on their roster (all of which are in the bullpen, with multiple mean having an ERA over six) and the Blue Jays starting rotation consisting exclusively of right-handers, the argument can be made that this will be the highest advantage Ohtani has had this October in terms of match-ups.

Can the Starting Pitching Continue Their Run of Success?

It’s no secret that the Dodgers’ starting rotation was their strength heading into October, and so far this postseason, they’ve lived up to the hype.

The combination of Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani has combined for a 1.40 ERA this month, and during their four-game sweep of the Brewers in the National League Championship Series, that group’s ERA was even lower as an NLCS record of 0.64.

With the full week off before Friday’s Game One of the World Series in Toronto, the Dodgers have the benefit of resetting their rotation in an order they want and having all four of their arms on full rest.

Yesterday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts already announced that Snell would get Game One and Yamamoto would get Game Two, which sets up Glasnow and Ohtani for Games Three and Four at Dodger Stadium.

But now, they’ll have a red-hot Blue Jays offense to attack, which is led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who leads all of Major League Baseball this postseason in batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS.

Still, that’s just one man, and the Dodgers have already beaten two of the league’s best offenses to get to the World Series in the Philadelphia Phillies and the Brewers.

Still, the Blue Jays pose one of the league’s most dynamic offenses as they not only hit the ball hard, but they also lead all of baseball in contact percentage and have more power in their lineup than any of the Brewers’ hitters.

This season, the Dodgers pitchers achieved a 24.8 percent strikeout rate, the second-highest in baseball and the top in the National League, and they have kept a similar rate throughout the postseason.

The Blue Jays had the lowest strikeout rate in baseball this year at 17.8 percent, meaning they put the ball in play more often, and they also feature power hitters like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who can hit home runs.

The Blue Jays, known for their strong contact skills, may really test the Dodgers’ defense, which has been performing above expectations during this postseason. It’ll be intriguing to see how that dynamic plays out on the field. defense that has outperformed its in-season norms so far this postseason.

Can the Dodgers Overcome “Rest vs Rust” Odds and Become a Dynasty?

Unlike the Blue Jays, the Dodgers had the luxury of not having to play a winner-take-all Game Seven or even a Game Four, Five, or Six as they swept the Brewers in four games.

That means when the Dodgers take the field on Friday for Game One of the World Series, they’ll have had a full week off, sparking the debate over rest vs. rust and whether it will have any impact on this series.

The Dodgers themselves don’t believe the time off will negatively affect them, seeing it as beneficial, as they’ll be able to reset their starting rotation, and players have stayed active despite one off day the day after they clinched the National League Pennant.

“We were watching while we were at practice,” Rojas said. “We have to pay attention to what’s going on and how they’re playing, but we’re going to have time to prepare for whoever we have to play.” The off days were structured, not soft. “We had a full day off after we clinched, and then yesterday was our first day here. We had a bunch of live BPs, defensive work. Everybody’s doing their own thing to be ready,” he said. “Last year we realized that continuing to work every single day and keeping your body on the same rhythm as September matters.”

History, however, is not on the Dodgers’ side in this scenario. This will be the fifth World Series in which one League Championship Series was a sweep and one went to a Game Seven, and in the previous four times, the team that played a longer series won the World Series.

If the Dodgers were to win the entire thing, it would be their third championship over the last six seasons, having won the previous two in 2020 over the Tampa Bay Rays and last year over the New York Yankees.

The Dodgers are already in the midst of their “golden era” as they’ve been to the postseason in 13 straight seasons, along with winning the National League West in 12 of the 13 years.

This World Series appearance will mark the fifth for Los Angeles over the last nine years, and that window only expects to grow larger.

On the “dynasty” talk, Roberts kept it in the rearview mirror. “I brought it up on the first day of spring training and haven’t talked about it since,” he said. “I don’t think we need that added pressure. Our focus is being in the moment and winning Game 1 and then four more games.” He added later, “Personally I want to win this one in ’25 as much as any of them. The legacy talk is for other people. Our job is to put those topics on the table by how we play.”

Still, the facts are the facts. No team since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees has won back-to-back championships, and no team has been to more World Series over the last ten years than the Dodgers.

A win this year would solidify the team in Major League history, and most importantly, Dodgers history, as the franchise has never had a back-to-back World Series champion.

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