Blue Jays will face Dodgers’ Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to kick off the World Series

Jays fans know Snell all too well from his days with the Tampa Bay Rays, and the 32-year-old boasts a 2.63 ERA across eight starts and 37 2/2 innings at the Rogers Centre.

Yamamoto has been just as impressive this postseason for the Dodgers, allowing just four earned runs across 19 2/3 innings and three starts. Although he earned the loss against the Phillies in the NLDS, the Japanese product pitched a gem against the Brewers back on October 14th, throwing an 111-pitch complete game that saw him allow just three hits, one walk, and one earned run (a homer) while striking out seven.

The 2025 All-Star has never pitched at the Rogers Centre, so his Saturday night contest will be his first time pitching underneath the CN Tower. Yamamoto has also never faced the Blue Jays before in his career, so this will be the first matchup between the squad and the right-hander.

The Toronto Blue Jays have yet to announce who will be starting Game 1 and 2 for the World Series, although there is a strong likelihood that Trey Yesavage will be taking the mound in at least one of those games. Manager John Schneider has preferred to use him at home compared to on the road. Outside of Yesavage, Gausman pitched one inning of relief on Monday but should be good to go for either Friday or Saturday, as could Shane Bieber, who pitched 3 2/3 innings in the Game 7 affair earlier this week.

Max Scherzer could also be an arm Schneider turns to, considering he was not used during Monday’s game, but additional rest and a start on the road may be more suited for the future Hall of Famer, who has years of experience pitching in the postseason and at Dodger Stadium.