After handily defeating the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series, then notching a come-from-behind heroic win over the Seattle Mariners in the American League Championship Series, the Toronto Blue Jays have made it to the World Series.
The Jays will battle the Los Angeles Dodgers: the Final Boss.
There’s no doubt the Blue Jays are a special team this year, capturing the imagination of the entire country. But the Dodgers are a behemoth of a baseball club.
How do the two teams stack up? These five charts tell the story of a potential dynasty versus an underdog.
Haters will moan about the Dodgers’ enormous payroll, and indeed they spent the most money of any team in the MLB this past season at $350 million US, according to Spotrac, which tracks finances in professional sports. But if L.A. drives a Rolls-Royce, Toronto is no slouch either, cruising around town in a Mercedes-Benz with its $255-million US payroll.
What’s interesting, however, is that L.A. spent $95 million US more than Toronto — and won one fewer regular season games.
But there are more numbers to follow than just money; let’s not forget home runs. Because when it comes to Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ two-way phenom strikes fear in many Jays’ fans.
Why?
Though Toronto fans have enjoyed fireworks from George Springer (32 home runs during the regular season) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (23), Ohtani matches both sluggers combined, with a staggering 55 home runs on his own.
It’s not all bad news on the batting front, though. Toronto had the highest batting average and the highest on-base percentage of any team in the regular season.
On paper, the Dodgers’ pitching lineup has been objectively stronger than the Jays during the post-season, with three of the four top throwers boasting an under-two earned run average (ERA).
For those joining the bandwagon for the first time, that statistic refers to the average runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings; the lower the number, the better.
And we have to talk about Ohtani again, since only one of the top-pitching Jays has a stronger ERA than him: Kevin Gausman.
The Jays only face the Dodgers a few times per season, but they don’t have a stellar record against the team, eking out just a single game of a three-game series played in L.A. this season. A similar two-and-one outcome came from a three-game stand in 2024.
Only one of these teams is truly battle-tested for the post-season. The Dodgers aren’t just chasing a back-to-back World Series title, they’ve got a wealth of experience under the bright lights of fall ball.
The Dodgers have made it to the post-season every year since 2013, going all the way twice — in 2020, the shortened COVID season, and again last year.
Casual Blue Jays fans may be forgiven if they didn’t know that. It’s been a while since baseball has interfered with Thanksgiving, let alone Halloween, and the post-season affairs have been few and far between.
Once again, a Canadian sports team has the weight of a nation on its shoulders. Canada hasn’t stolen a major league championship from an American franchise of any sport since the 2019 Toronto Raptors. The Edmonton Oilers came close to bringing Lord Stanley home the past two seasons but fell both times to the Florida Panthers.
Perhaps this year, the Jays — overcoming stats on paper — can topple another foe from a land of palm trees.
Game 1 of that journey begins Friday at 8 p.m. at Rogers Centre.
