At this point of the postseason, everyone’s trying to look for that one thing that can give them an edge over the opposition. With the margin for error so razor thin, having one small quality that gives you an advantage can’t be overlooked. For the Toronto Blue Jays, that one small quality may be their ability to avoid strikeouts.
The Blue Jays were one of the best in the league when it comes to avoiding strikeouts this year and it was a skill that carried them through the ALCS as they made Seattle’s pitchers work incredibly hard to earn every single out.
The Seattle Mariners didn’t go five straight games this regular season without striking out at least eight batters once.
The Mariners didn’t strike out eight Blue Jays batters in any of the seven ALCS games.
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) October 21, 2025
Ridiculous ALCS stat shows how well Blue Jays are built for matchup vs Dodgers
If the Blue Jays maintain this approach against the Dodgers pitching, particularly against their starters, it’s an inside edge that could really make or break the series. Putting balls in play early and avoiding strikeouts could put a ton of pressure on two areas where the Dodgers struggle; their bullpen and their fielding.
As a team, the Dodgers accumulated just a 1.6 defensive fWAR in 2025 – which ranked 17th in the league according to FanGraphs. They’v also committed the most errors out of any postseason team with eight, going into Game 1 of the World Series. FanGraphs also rates their Fielding Run Value at zero – which isn’t a great number, but if you’re looking for a positive, at least it’s not a negative rating like the San Diego Padres or the Philadelphia Phillies had.
The Blue Jays led the league in hits in the regular season and their 115 hits in 11 games in the postseason also tops the league. Their 64 strikeouts is also the best of any team that played at least seven games of playoff baseball and is two less than the New York Yankees who struck out 66 times in just seven games.
If the Blue Jays can get to the starting pitches and get their pitch counts up, or make them work in consistent high leverage situations, it bodes well for Toronto to more likely get into the Dodgers bullpen, which has been a soft spot for the team as well. The Dodgers xERA of 5.13 is the third worst in the playoffs and they have been one of the worst teams at getting out of jams with a Left on Base percentage of 69.4%.
At this time of the year, while power certainly plays and can help a team overcome their lack of ability to get on base, the Blue Jays have also proven that keeping strikeouts down and continually peppering the opposing pitching with hit after hit is also a good strategy for success.
