2025 World Series: Why Dodgers' stellar rotation may have met its match against Blue Jays' offense

TORONTO -- He wiped his face with his glove hand more often. He reached for the PitchCom with a hesitation that told the story. Even with a game-time temperature of 68 degrees and the roof closed at the Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays made Dodgers starter Blake Snell sweat.

Blake Snell hadn't seen this. Neither did his bullpen. Not this lineup that made easy work of the Yankees in four games, slashing .338/.373/.601 with a .974 OPS in the ALDS. Not the club that slugged its way out of a 2-0 hole, doing it on the road for that matter, against the Mariners a round later.

Snell and the Dodgers had faced a lineup built for this kind of fight. Friday's 11-4 beatdown in Game 1 of the World Series made that clear.

The Dodgers are the heavyweight in this sport. Their starters have posted numbers to match that status. Heading into Friday, Dodger starters yielded just 10 runs across their 64 ⅓ innings pitched (a 1.40 ERA) in these playoffs.

Yet you could feel the shift in superpower -- Toronto's superpower -- in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

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Snell was never comfortable. Every two-strike count turned into a string of foul balls. Snell induced 10 swings and misses (after combining to get 45 in his last two starts against the Phillies and Brewers), but 22 foul balls. That can wear a pitcher down.

"No matter how good you are, it wears you down," Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt said.

The relentless at-bats that have defined this Blue Jays lineup all postseason were now playing out for the world to see. Daulton Varsho just popped Snell for a two-run shot in the fourth, tying the score at 2-2. Then Snell plunked Varsho with no outs in the sixth inning to load the bases, chasing him out of the contest.

Reliever Emmett Sheehan wasn't much better, giving up two singles around a walk that put Toronto ahead 5-2. Dave Roberts made another move, calling on Anthony Banda with one out for a lefty-on-lefty matchup against Addison Barger, a pinch-hitter. 

That didn't work. Barger crushed a 2-1 hanging slider for a grand slam. Some of the 44,553 on hand wept -- literally -- as Barger roared rounding the bases. More importantly, the Blue Jays exposed something we hadn't seen this postseason: the Dodgers' thin bullpen, made clear by the nine runs the Jays hung in that inning. Alex Vesia is off the World Series roster. So are Tanner Scott and Michael Kopech after underperforming in 2025. 

"Tonight was just really bad," Banda said. 

Bad started in the first inning, so let's rewind it a bit. Snell needed just five pitches to record his first two outs. He ended that frame with 29. Though the Blue Jays didn't score, they saw pitches. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. saw seven pitches before his walk. Bo Bichette saw four before his single. Alejandro Kirk saw seven more before walking to load the bases. Varsho saw four before he flied out to center

This was unfamiliar territory for Snell. Annoying, even. His put-out stuff wasn't there, in part, because the Blue Jays didn't allow it. 

It's a philosophy, a formula, that began at the start of spring training: put together quality at-bats. Be aggressive early in the count within the strikezone. Hunt the first pitch. Hunt the second, too, if need be. Then with two strikes, shorten up. 

"It's one through nine that's just committed to the same plan and just on the same page," Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement said. "Every one of us. The fact that we're all pulling in the same direction and definitely on the same page, it helps with team offense."

The Dodgers have the superstars. They were the heavy favorites coming into this series. And are still favored to win the Fall Classic despite the 0-1 hole. They are that potent and could quickly flip this script on Saturday in Game 2. But the Blue Jays have some say here, too. They can hit and make certain that you feel them each inning. Each at-bat. 

"That's kind of how we roll," Jays manager John Schneider said.

The last time Los Angeles was down 0-1 in the World Series was the last time the Dodgers lost in one: 2018 vs. the Red Sox.

Their rotation may have finally met its match in a team built on a hitting philosophy that's produced the best offense of this postseason and regular season. The Dodgers are baseball's benchmark. The franchise that goes for it every year. The pillar organization where egos and contracts are deferred for a chance at a title.

But the Blue Jays' bats won't go quietly. Snell got his dose of it on Friday. 

"I learned a lot. It's just that I wasn't locating the ball," Snell said. "It's pretty simple. The command with the fastball wasn't great. Changeup, I couldn't locate that either. And then the last inning there, I mean, yeah, I locate that pitch all the time, and then walked Bo. Just frustrating. But I learned a lot. Still confident. I know what I can do, I know who I am." 

The Blue Jays knows who they are, too. They have all year. And who they are is, perhaps, how they might be able to pull this off.