Dodgers vs. Blue Jays World Series preview: Who Has the Edge?
USA TODAY Sports’ Gabe Lacques breaks down both sides of the upcoming World Series between the Dodgers and Blue Jays.
Sports Pulse
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee alum Daulton Varsho was already the first person from his college program to play in Major League Baseball.
He’s about to be the first one to play in the World Series.
Varsho had two hits, including a game-tying RBI single in the first inning for the Toronto Blue Jays, in a tense 4-3 win over Seattle in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Oct. 20. That launched the Blue Jays into the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team that dismissed the Brewers in four games in the NLCS.
The center fielder actually struggled over seven games in the ALCS, but he had two massive hits, including the two-out single against George Kirby in Game 7 that tied the game after Seattle had taken a quick 1-0 lead. Though Seattle would ultimately re-take a 3-1 lead, Toronto’s George Springer hit an unforgettable three-run homer in the seventh that tipped the scales in the Blue Jays’ favor.
Varsho, who had a two-homer, four-hit game against the New York Yankees during the AL Division Series, went 5-for-28 in the ALCS (.179). In Game 3, however, with the Blue Jays facing a 2-0 series deficit and an early 2-0 deficit in the game itself, Varsho was at the plate for a wild pitch that gave Toronto a 3-2 lead. Then he doubled to right field against Kirby to make it 5-2. The Blue Jays went on to win the game, tie the series, and then rally to win the final two games and advance to their first World Series since 1993.
The Marshfield native was limited to just 71 games this year, but he had career-best marks in slugging (.548) and OPS (.833), with 20 homers and 13 doubles. Varsho, the reigning Gold Glove winner, wasn’t a finalist again in 2025 — the limited season workload surely played a part — but he remains an essential cog on defense. He made a diving catch to save a run in Game 2 of the ALCS, though the Mariners went on to win that game.
