The 2025 MLB Playoffs are down to the final four teams after an action-packed Division Series round that saw milwaukee brewers And seattle mariners Move forward in exciting game 5s.
Now that the match has been decided… los angeles dodgers-brewers and sailors-toronto blue jays –It’s time for some (more) predictions! We asked our MLB experts to weigh in on who will reach the World Series, which players will earn League Championship Series MVP honors and which topics will rule the week ahead. We also asked our experts to explain why their early fall classic picks are still trending — or where they went terribly wrong.
LCS Preview: Blue Jays-Mariners, Dodgers-Brewers , bracket
jump to: ALCS , nlcs , Our predictions turned out to be correct , …and wrong
ALCS
Seattle Mariners (8 votes)
In how many games: Seven Games (5 votes), Six Games (3)
MVP if Mariners win: cal raleigh (4), Randy Arozarena (2), Josh Naylor (1), julio rodriguez (1)
Who picked Seattle: Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez, Paul Heimbekids, Eric Karabell, Tim Keon, Kelly McDaniel, Jeff Passan, David Schoenfield
Toronto Blue Jays (6 votes)
In how many games: Seven games (2 votes), six games (3), five games (1)
MVP if Blue Jays win: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.(3), george springer (1), kevin gosman (1), dolton varsho (1)
Who Toronto picked: Tristan Cockcroft, Bradford Doolittle, Tim Kurkjian, Dan Mullen, Buster Olney, Jesse Rogers
One thing we’ll all talk about:
How a perennially troubled franchise is going to represent the American League in the World Series. The Mariners have played 49 seasons. They are the only team in MLB to never make the World Series. And advancing to the American League Championship Series in such dramatic fashion only supercharges the stakes for them.
The Blue Jays, meanwhile, spend year-to-year in the AL East meat grinder, haven’t been to the World Series since winning it in 1993 and return most of the roster from a team that went 74-88 last year. They are a joyous team to watch, though, putting the ball in play, vacuuming up balls on the defensive side like Pac-Man, running the bases with purpose and throwing plenty of nasty splitters.
Destiny calls to one of these snakebite organizations. This is a fight that has been going on for decades. — Jeff Passan
Stars in both lineups. On one side you have George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who swept the Yankees in the American League Division Series. On the other hand, it is Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raley. Complementary players matter in October, but stars fuel a deep run in October. –Jorge Castillo
There’s a lot to like about the Mariners – powerful lineup led by Cal Raley and Julio Rodriguez, good starting pitching and an effective closer, and they’re good at home – but they’ll start this series at such a disadvantage because of the way their series against the Tigers played. Whether Dan Wilson picks an opener or goes with a starting pitcher on short rest or relies on Brian Wu for his first appearance in a month, the dominoes of ALDS Game 5 will impact Seattle’s options in this round. In the meantime, the Jays will get a relatively good rest. — Buster Olney
It rarely boils down to one thing in baseball, but as much as I like the way the Blue Jays’ hitters match up against the Seattle staff, I think we’ll emphasize the importance of making contact as a standout attribute for the offense in this era of strikeout hyper-inflation. This will especially be the case when the Blue Jays play the Brewers in the World Series. Batting average is alive and well! — Bradford Doolittle
nlcs
Los Angeles Dodgers (9 votes)
In how many games: Seven Games (1 vote), Six Games (4), Five Games (3), Four Games (1)
MVP if Dodgers win: shohei ohtani (5), blake snell (2), teoscar hernandez (1), freddy freeman (1)
Who picked Los Angeles: Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez, Paul Heimbekids, Matt Marrone, Kelly McDaniel, Buster Olney, Jeff Passan, Jesse Rogers, David Schoenfield
Milwaukee Brewers (5 votes)
In how many games: Seven Games (3 votes), Six Games (2)
MVP if Brewers win: jackson chourio (4), Andrew Vaughan (1)
Who picked Milwaukee: Tristan Cockcroft, Bradford Doolittle, Eric Karabel, Tim Keon, Dan Mullen
One thing we’ll all talk about:
How the Dodgers’ rotation not only puts them on the verge of becoming champions again for the first time in a quarter century, but could also make the case for the best performance a team has ever fielded this time of year. Blake Snell’s quartet, yoshinobu yamamotoShohei Ohtani and tyler glasnow Dominance will continue. – Alden Gonzalez
There will be discussion about how the big-market Dodgers have tipped the economic scale in baseball during the World Series, but for the LCS, the conversation will be about Shohei Ohtani. He’s going to be hot. Hitting .148 so far in the postseason – with 12 strikeouts and only three walks – is a phenomenal thing. That will change very soon as their struggles come to an end in this postseason that starts Monday. He’s your NLCS MVP. –Jesse Rogers
Can anyone stop the Dodgers? This is the same question which was asked last year. The answer was no. And now Los Angeles is coming off a series in which it defeated a very game-winning Philadelphia team while posting a .557 OPS and hitting two home runs, the fewest of any Division Series team. The Dodgers’ bats are unlikely to stay cold for long, no matter what is thrown at them.
After two rounds, the Dodgers have settled their closer issue – roki sasaki The guy is there – but their lack of bullpen depth is exacerbated. For the seven-game series, manager Dave Roberts will have to find at least one more reliever he can rely on, otherwise the Dodgers could find themselves in the kind of late-season trouble that has yet to derail them. If that and petty crime couldn’t work, maybe nothing could. –passan
The talk of the NLCS will be the same story as the Dodgers’ NLDS win over the Phillies: starting pitching and their new closer.
Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow are peaking at the right time, the main reasons – along with Roky Sasaki – why the Dodgers held the Phillies to a .212 average in their series (and under .200 if you ignore that). clayton kershaw disastrous relief outing). Of course, the related discussion, if they dominate, is that this is the last store-bought staff of high-end pitchers, with four free agents and Glasnow (one acquired in a trade, one signed to a major extension). Not a single home starter. –David Scoenfield
The World Series predictions have been correct so far
I rarely go picky when filling out a bracket, but this year I did exactly that as per the seed line – picking both the Brewers and Blue Jays. Of course, those No. 1 seeds were also a much less popular choice in the postseason than others, including the Yankees and Phillies, but a second consecutive World Series between the top seeds is still in play. –Dan Mullen
The Blue Jays handled the Yankees with ease, especially at Rogers Center. They are slight favorites for Vegas to win this series with home field advantage. But I picked the Mariners to win the World Series before the regular season started and then again in the postseason, so I’m sticking with them. –Castillo
the dodgers were a bad guy Orion Kerkering Potentially a decision away from going back to Philadelphia and winning a do-or-die game – and now, they should be everyone’s favorite. The Yankees just got beat by a better team. –passan
Well, obviously the Phillies found a way to be “Phillies” again, so they wouldn’t win, but I had the Mariners representing the AL, and they had the pitching to keep the Blue Jays relatively in check. In the NL, this is the best chance for Milwaukee in a long time. It may be unconventional against the legendary Dodgers, but the Brewers have pitching and depth. We will have our first ever WS Champion, the Brewers. –Eric Karabel
World Series predictions gone wrong
My World Series picks (Phillies-Yankees): If I had to do it all over again, I’d pick two teams that didn’t lose in the LDS. Thinking back to myself in late September, I’m sure I was thrilled by the veteran presence and long ball power of both the Phillies and Yankees. I didn’t work. — Doolittle
I also predicted Yankees-Phillies, a rematch of the 2009 World Series, which did not come to fruition due to the impressive performance of the Blue Jays lineup and the Dodgers’ starting rotation. , Paul Hembekides
Before the playoffs, I predicted that the Phillies would beat the Dodgers in the NLDS and win the World Series. Home field advantage wasn’t what I thought it would be for Philly, although early and jhon duran Was as good as expected: 30.1 innings in the series, 6 earned runs for a 1.78 ERA. I will shift my World Series winner prediction to the Dodgers, as they were my second choice before the playoffs. – Kelly McDaniel
I watched the Phillies win the World Series, which says a lot about what it meant to the defending-champion Dodgers to sweep them in the Division Series. He might have been the most talented in this field. — Gonzalez
Since my original choice, the Phillies decided to play the Dodgers, just like Roky Sasaki Emmett Sheehan Having turned the Dodgers bullpen into a formidable unit, Los Angeles now seems like the obvious choice here — and why not the West Coast World Series against the Mariners, with shadows creeping from the mound to home plate in the late afternoon sun, and every game ending 2-1? –Tim Keown
