The Blue Jays Are Headed Back to the World Series

Springer has been the Blue Jays’ best player all season long, and his performance in these playoffs and his ability to come up in big moments when they needed it the most was incredibly impressive. The Blue Jays will hope his postseason heroics continue in the World Series, as he will look to continue climbing up the ranks in career October stats.

Springer sits tied with Kyle Schwarber for third all-time in career postseason home runs with 23. He has seven career home runs in the World Series, one of only 14 players to ever reach that mark. He already has one WS MVP award under his belt, and he’ll be looking for another one soon.

Kevin Gausman – 1-1, 2.19 ERA, 12.1 IP, 6 H, 9 K, 1.054 WHIP

Kevin Gausman appeared in Games 1, 5, and 7, the latter of which was a one-inning relief appearance. No matter what the Blue Jays have asked from their ace, he has delivered much more than could be expected on a consistent basis.

In the fourth and deciding game of the ALDS against the Yankees, Gausman was available out of the bullpen with a potential start in Game 5 looming, but in Game 7 of the ALCS, he actually made a relief appearance.

Coming out of Toronto’s bullpen to work the seventh inning in Monday’s game, Gausman worked a scoreless frame while surrendering three walks (one intentionally to Raleigh) in his first relief outing since October 14, 2021 (Game 5 of the NLDS for the Giants).

Gausman pitched two gems in Games 1 and 5, and while Toronto lost both of these games, his outings were crucial in keeping the Jays in this series. Without a rock like Gausman at the top of their rotation, the Blue Jays wouldn’t be where they are today.

Seattle’s Notable Performers

Cal Raleigh – .240/.345/.760, 4 HR, 1.105 OPS

Cal Raleigh has simply had one of the greatest seasons in baseball history. Combining both the regular season and postseason, his 65 home runs this season are an AL record, surpassing Aaron Judge’s mark of 64 set in 2022 (62 regular season, 2 postseason).

Raleigh led the Mariners to an incredible run this year that saw them get as close to the World Series as they’ve ever been.

On the defensive side, Raleigh showed more volatility than he had throughout the regular season, but he definitely made up for it with his bat. His four home runs led the series, but unfortunately for the Mariners, they were all of the solo variety, and they couldn’t make Raleigh’s power work more in their favour.

Time after time, Raleigh showed why he was one of the most feared hitters in MLB this season and why he might get some serious consideration in American League MVP voting. It’s a shame that his season has to end here, but that’s baseball. He still had one heck of a season, and nobody’s taking that away from him.

Julio Rodríguez – .240/.367/.640, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 1.007 OPS

J-Rod showed out in the ALCS, smashing three home runs off Blue Jays starters (two off Bieber and one against Yesavage). His baserunning abilities weren’t really on display in this series, as he didn’t attempt any stolen bases, but he did notch six extra-base hits, including three doubles and three home runs.

Once he was moved to the leadoff spot in place of Randy Arozarena, Seattle was getting a lot more offense out of the top of their lineup. In Game 7, Rodríguez scored two of the Mariners’ three runs and had a double and a home run. When they needed it most, he came up clutch, but unfortunately for the M’s, there weren’t nine Rodríguezes in their lineup.

Josh Naylor – .417/.481/.792, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 1 SB, 1.273 OPS

Mississauga’s own Josh Naylor absolutely showed out in this series, leading the Mariners in hits (10), batting average (.417), on-base percentage (.481) and slugging percentage (.792). Naylor was by far one of the most intimidating hitters to come to the plate in the ALCS, and it felt as though each plate appearance he had gave him the chance to turn the game on its head.

Not only was he excellent with the bat in this series, but he was incredible with the glove. Nearly every single game saw some sort of defensive masterpiece from Naylor, whether it be a tough snag on a line drive, a smart throwing decision, or a nice scoop on a throw in the dirt. Every time the ball was hit his way, he handled it with grace and prowess.

Naylor has always performed well against his hometown team, posting a .321/.356/.494 in 27 regular season games against the Blue Jays heading into this series. It’s no surprise that he was one of the Mariners’ best hitters in this series following his dominance in the ALDS against the Tigers, but it just wasn’t enough to carry Seattle to the World Series.

Prominent ALCS Storylines

Defense Wins Games

Throughout this series, it was put on full display that defensive aptitude often coincides with winning baseball games.

The Blue Jays have won two consecutive Gold Glove Team Awards and are likely on their way to another in 2025, and their defense was immaculate in the ALCS. They only committed one error (Andrés Giménez) to Seattle’s five, which included three in a crucial Game 6 loss.

Raleigh was one of the best defensive catchers in the regular season (not nominated for a Gold Glove, though) and hadn’t allowed any passed balls all season long.

Well, in the ALCS, he was rather sloppy behind the plate compared to his standards, as he had trouble keeping the ball in front of him at times. A bad throwing decision from Raleigh to try to nab a speedy Guerrero at third base resulted in him scoring an important run for Toronto in their Game 6 victory with Seattle’s backs against the wall.

The Blue Jays turned inning-ending double plays in three consecutive innings in Game 6, two of which were with the bases loaded. Slick infield defense, and the league’s best Fielding Run Value (+44) and FanGraphs Fielding Runs Above Average (38.6), help the Blue Jays lock down games and hold onto close leads. The Mariners just weren’t able to outmatch the Blue Jays in this area, where Toronto consistently strives to outplay its opponents.

Bullpen Masterclass

Heading into the playoffs, few expected that Toronto’s bullpen would produce impressive outings over and over again. But the Blue Jays’ relievers really came in clutch to bring Toronto back to the World Series. Shades of Toronto’s Game 4 bullpen game against the Yankees were seen in this series, and it’ll be more important going forward, too.

In particular, take, for example, the role of the bullpen in Game 7 of the ALCS. Shane Bieber started for Toronto and went 3.2 innings while giving up two runs. Manager John Schneider went to Louis Varland, Seranthony Domínguez, Gausman, Chris Bassitt, and Jeff Hoffman, in that order.

These names went a combined 5.1 innings and only surrendered one hit, a solo home run hit by Raleigh off Varland. Aside from Gausman’s aforementioned three walks, this was the only baserunner Seattle mustered against Toronto’s bullpen in Game 7.

Hoffman pitched five innings in the series and did not give up a run (1 H, 1 BB, 10 K, 0 ER), Varland threw seven innings and appeared in nearly every game (4 H, 1 BB, 8 K, 2 ER), and even Bassitt threw two relief appearances (2.2 perfect innings).

The rest of Toronto’s bullpen was somewhat shaky in the series at times, but it was impressive to see the ‘pen lock things down when it needed to.

All or Nothing

The Seattle Mariners hit 238 home runs in the regular season, good enough for the third-best mark in all of baseball. In this series, 23 of the Mariners’ 30 runs were scored on home runs, which indicates an incredibly high reliance on the long ball.

While Seattle has many hitters who put up staggering home run totals this season, it’s worth noting that whenever their power bats weren’t at their best, they simply were not scoring runs.

Raleigh hit four home runs in the ALCS, but none of them were hit with anyone on base, so he wasn’t even driving in anyone else other than himself. The Mariners just hit the heck out of the baseball, and if they didn’t, they didn’t succeed.

The Mariners’ 14 home runs in the ALCS are the third-most in history by one team in a single ALCS series, but their 30 runs scored were only the 13th-highest among single-season ALCS performances. If a few of Seattle’s home runs were a bit more timely, this series could have easily tipped in their favour.

Top to Bottom Effort

The Blue Jays got a great effort from every single player in this series, including a surprising amount of offensive support from the bottom of their lineup. Players who are not known for their bats came alive and now might scare opposing pitchers more than ever before.

Giménez slashed .261/.320/.522 in the series with two massive two-run home runs in Games 3 and 4 in Seattle, and he had the second-most RBI in the series (6) for the Blue Jays behind Springer (7). Isiah Kiner-Falefa played excellently in the ALCS as well, going 5-for-15 (.333) with two doubles and the third-highest WPA (win probability added) among Blue Jays hitters in the series (0.12).

Nathan Lukes was an unsung hero in this series, batting second in Toronto’s lineup in each game and tallying nine hits. Ernie Clement reached the same hit total with the addition of three extra-base hits. The depth in Toronto’s lineup really came out in this series, and the Mariners couldn’t match this production with the bottom of their lineup.

The lower third of Seattle’s lineup really struggled to get any offense going throughout the ALCS; players including Dominic Canzone (2-for-22), Leo Rivas (1-for-14), Victor Robles (1-for-13), and JP Crawford (3-for-21) really sewered the Mariners’ chances of scoring runs by not producing at the plate in crucial spots. The Mariners had to rely on their big sluggers to hit – and they did – but Seattle wasn’t able to reliably get anything offensively out of the rest of the lineup.

Toronto has earned the right to challenge the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, and the ensuing World Series games could be some of the most interesting in recent memory. Both teams are fighting for the ultimate prize, and both sides will be hungry for the title. The Dodgers might be World Series favourites, but there’s nothing saying the Blue Jays can’t pull this one off.