It All Comes Down to This

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1. Thoughts and prayers for Alex and his family. … Game day! i am steady in my belief that the dodgers win game 1, they will win the series. If they can win both games, the series doesn’t return to toronto. It won’t be an easy series. Toronto is potent offensively, BUT, the dodgers are the more complete team by far. Blue Jays starting pitchers don’t stack up with the dodgers. The Jays bullpen is probably not as good as the Dodgers. The offenses? it’s show time!! The dodgers can hold their own against the Jays. Starting pitching will decide this series! Now who wins? not to hard to figure out! Dodgers. in 5!

   1. disappointed in the loss tonight.
      but it ain’t over.
      i think moto brings his mojo saturday night and the good guys even this thing up going back to LA for 3.

2. I am slightly nervous but mostly because we don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m humble but fully expecting a series win. Even a loss will sting.

   Compared to last year, we don’t have HFA, we’re not facing TWO all-time hitters, and there’s no Garrett Cole.

   Our greatest advantage is SP, but in a small sample anyone can have a bad start. Or be pushed to exit early. Our next great advantage is the championship core. Superstars are great, but Muncy, Smith, Teo & Keekay have been there done that.

   Some variables are bullpen, defense, Bichette. If we can play them even on the margins, the big swings should be in our favor. There has to be no let up in our offensive approach.

   My key players: Snell, Betts, Muncy, Sheehan, Sasaki

   Go blue

   1. I look for Ohtani to have one of the greatest WS in history

      1. If I were Toronto, I would walk him every time.

         I’d walk him to start Game One.

         1. Or throw every pitch in the dirt

3. From Houston Mitchell:

   —Some bad news for the bullpen: Alex Vesia might miss the World Series because he and his wife are dealing with a “a deeply personal family matter.” From Jack Harris’ story:

   “We have a little bit of time — I think 10 o’clock tomorrow or something like that — to finalize our roster,” Dave Roberts said. “But, yeah, we’re going through the process of trying to backfill his spot on the roster.”
   One potential option for the Dodgers would be to place Vesia on MLB’s Family Medical Emergency List, which would require him to miss a minimum of three days but make it possible for him to rejoin the active roster later in the World Series.
   —That would be a big blow to the Dodger bullpen. Vesia was one of the handful of guys they counted on this postseason. I would imagine Anthony Banda would fill his role as the main left-hander out of the pen.
   —But the important thing is not how it hurts the Dodgers, it’s that Vesia and his wife come through this OK. Our best wishes to them.
   —Which unlikely player will rise up to be a star this World Series? I’m going with Andy Pages, who is overdue to break his slump.
   —The dream scenario: Dodgers win it at home, and have a big enough lead that Clayton Kershaw comes in to pitch the final inning.
   —Because I had “4-0” and “4-3” on the mind (or, I’m just dumb), in the last newsletter I had the Dodgers defeating the A’s 4-3 in the 1988 World Series. It was 4-1 of course.
   —What do the Dodgers need to do to win? Cool off Springer and Guerrero. Work the count and tire out the pitching staff, which pays off even more as the series progresses. The pitchers need to attack hitters and not just nibble around the corner. All of that is easier said than done though.
   —Whichever team wins, Jose Ureña is guaranteed a World Series ring. He pitched for the Dodgers and Blue Jays this season. For the Dodgers he gave one run in three innings, for the Blue Jays, five runs in 12.1 innings. The Dodgers signed him on June 3 and released him on June 13.
   —Familiar face Don Mattingly is the bench coach for the Blue Jays. Believe it or not, in his long, illustrious career, this is the first time he has been in a World Series.
   —One thing the Dodgers have working in their favor: The Blue Jays don’t have many strong left-handed pitchers. They can’t just pound them with lefties like the Brewers did.

4. This is a serious question – who’s had the better career, Mike Trout or Kike Hernandez?

   1. Trout has made more money.

      Kike has made more memories!

   2. Well, Trout is a first ballot Hall of Famer!

   3. Trout

5. I love this page, they always publish news that is as ridiculous as it is surprising.

   ‘Blake Snell will miss Game 1 of the World Series after forgetting to renew his passport, the Dodgers announced.”

   1. Kike’s has had a much better post season career than Trout.

   2. Or could be misinformation, or simple bait and switch tactic to throw the Jays scouting team into a frenzy. In all honestly, there is probably no major impact if the LAD were to go with any of the 4 starters on game 1.

6. The Los Angeles Dodgers submitted their final 26-man World Series roster today, October 24, 2025, which includes Edgardo Henriquez and Will Klein and excludes Alex Vesia and Ben Casparius.

   Dodgers World Series Roster

   Shohei Ohtani Two-Way Player
   Pitchers Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan, Blake Treinen, Edgardo Henriquez, Will Klein, Jack Dreyer, Anthony Banda, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Wrobleski
   Catchers Will Smith, Ben Rortvedt
   Infielders Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Miguel Rojas
   Outfielders Andy Pages, Teoscar Hernández, Alex Call, Justin Dean
   Infielder/Outfielders Tommy Edman, Kiké Hernández, Hyeseong Kim

   1. Vesia could come back in LA IF his family issues are resolved… but don’t count on it.

      No Tanner Scott.

      1. NO Yates or Conforto. Thank God!

      2. Can they remove someone to add him without an injury?

         1. Yes, in LA… after 3 days.

            1. He can’t come back he wasn’t added to the medical emergency list he’s not playing this series. According to Rosenthal anyway.

      3. Klein and Henriquez can get out without the fielders fetting involved. That’s big.

         1. True.

            Hopefully not needed though.

7. LETS GO DODGERS!!!!!

8. 8:00 PM ET FOX

   Dodgers (93-69)
   Blue Jays (94-68)

   SP Blake Snell L
   5-4 2.35 ERA
   SP Trey Yesavage R
   1-0 3.21 ERA

   Confirmed Lineup
   DH S. Ohtani L
   SS Mookie Betts R
   1B F. Freeman L
   C Will Smith R
   RF T. Hernandez R
   3B Max Muncy L
   LF E. Hernandez R
   2B Tommy Edman S
   CF Andy Pages R

   In Domed Stadium

9. Vesia was not added to the Family Medical Emergency list as previously announced. Therefore, he can only return if another pitcher is injured. It sounds like the Dodgers believe he cannot come back at all.

10. Got to get this off my chest. In blogs I read and articles I have read, treat Kershaw like he’s the Willie Mays as a Met. Kershaw was 11-2 this season that is an 85% winning percentage. Maybe Kershaw shouldn’t start a game (I disagree) but he shouldn’t be treated as a charity case. Kershaw can still pitch. Change speed and change location has been the success advice for decades in baseball and it still holds true today. Thank you for allowing me to blow off steam.

    1. I agree. They hung him out to dry his last outing after not pitching 10 days. I understand why after removing Scott off the roster. The reason I didn’t want to see Treinen the final game of the Brewers series is some of these guys needed work. A lot of that pen hasn’t seen meaningful innings in weeks. Not that one inning would have changed it much.

11. Butt kicking

12. Sure now a home run

13. Pages has just been brutal. At some point Roberts is going to have to use guys other than Roki, Treinen, and Banda. Dreyer has been solid all year. Thought Doc would use him when he brought in Banda.

14. Not sure this will be a sweep.

15. I’m chillin’. Just one game.

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