As the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners prepare for a decisive Game 7 in the American League Championship Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in no hurry. The defending champions spent Monday taking batting practice at Dodger Stadium, loose and confident, their place in the 2025 World Series already secured. If Seattle wins, the Fall Classic will open in Los Angeles. If Toronto prevails, the Dodgers will be on an early Wednesday flight to Canada.
Sportsbooks listed by trusted offshore sportsbook reviews by pokerscout.com have the Dodgers ranging as -200 to -220 favorites to win their second consecutive World Series. Both the Mariners and Blue Jays enter Game 7 as +400 underdogs to advance out of the American League and dethrone the champs. For Los Angeles, this marks their fifth National League pennant in nine years and their chance to become the first back-to-back world champions in 25 seasons.
A Dominant Road Back to October
The Dodgers finished the regular season 93-69, clinching their fourth straight National League West title and twelfth in the last thirteen seasons. Their consistency defined the campaign. Los Angeles was rarely scorching hot but never cold for long, managing the marathon with a veteran balance of star power and depth. Mookie Betts, in his full-time move to shortstop, hit 20 home runs during the 2025 regular season, along with 82 RBIs, a .258 batting average, and 95 runs scored across 150 games. Freddie Freeman again anchored the middle of the lineup, driving in more than 90 runs and batting near .300.
Shohei Ohtani was the ultimate difference maker. In his first full season playing both ways for the Dodgers, Ohtani delivered an MVP-level year with a .294 average, 45 home runs, 109 RBI, and a 3.42 ERA across 19 starts while the team limited his pitching workload throughout the year. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow provided steady rotation production, while Blake Snell turned heads with dominant outings in the second half of the season. All three, along with Ohtani, have been lights out in the postseason to date.
The bullpen, which has struggled since the All-Star break, enters the World Series anchored by Alex Vesia and Blake Treinen, both of whom have had their moments. Roki Sasaki struggled as a rookie starter but seems to have found his groove as the team’s postseason closer. Starter Emmet Sheehan and middle reliever Anthony Banda round out the bullpen core.
The Dodgers’ position players and bench are deep and versatile. Miguel Rojas, Hyeseong Kim, and Tommy Edman gave manager Dave Roberts defensive flexibility up the middle. Max Muncy will likely start at third base against right-handers, while Kike Hernandez can play both the hot corner and left field. Teoscar Hernández hit .247 with 25 home runs and 89 RBIs, and catcher Will Smith, who seems recovered from a late-season hand injury, brings right-handed pop. The Dodgers scored 825 runs during the season, hit 244 homers, and finished with a team ERA under 4.00.
A Clean Run Through the National League
Los Angeles opened the postseason like a machine, having gone 14-6 over their final 20 games of the 2025 regular season, closing the schedule strong after a mid-September slump. The Dodgers swept the Cincinnati Reds in two games in the Wild Card Series, dominating with a mix of power and precision. The Reds entered with young energy, but the Dodgers’ experience and relentless lineup were too much.
Next came the Philadelphia Phillies in the Division Series — a rematch of heavyweight hitters. The Dodgers dropped Game 2 in Philadelphia but responded emphatically, winning the next two behind strong pitching from Glasnow and timely hitting from Hernandez and Betts.
That set up the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers led the league with 97 wins but never looked comfortable against Los Angeles. Shohei Ohtani gave one of the great postseason performances in recent memory. In Game 4, he hit three home runs and struck out 10 over seven innings as the Dodgers completed the sweep. The combined distance of his three homers—1,342 feet—became a viral stat overnight, underscoring his unmatched ability to dominate at both plate and mound.
Milwaukee entered with one of baseball’s best rotations, but Los Angeles neutralized it with patience. The Dodgers outscored the Brewers 22-8 in the four-game sweep. On the mound, Yamamoto and Snell each turned in quality starts, and the bullpen combined for just three earned runs in 14 postseason innings. The team enters the World Series with a postseason record of 10-1 and is 25-6 over its last 31 games.
Waiting for the Challenger
The Dodgers now await the survivor of a grueling ALCS. Toronto fought back from a 3-2 deficit to force Game 7 behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, while Seattle relied on power from Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez to stay alive. Each team’s pitching depth will be tested one more time before facing the most balanced lineup in baseball.
If the Mariners advance, Los Angeles will open the World Series at Dodger Stadium on Friday. If Toronto wins, Los Angeles will travel north, with Game 1 in front of a raucous Rogers Centre crowd. Either way, the Dodgers will be favored to defend their title — a rare position in Major League Baseball’s era of parity.
Los Angeles has been the standard for nearly a decade, blending megastar talent with organizational depth. From Betts and Freeman to Ohtani’s historic two-way dominance, the Dodgers have built a core capable of weathering any postseason storm. Now, with just four wins separating them from another title, they stand on the doorstep of history again — rested, ready, and waiting for the final opponent to emerge from the other side of baseball’s October battleground.
