MLB League Championship Series Preview and Free Picks
Three of the four best teams in the regular season have advanced to their league championships. Also, the unanimous choice in the preseason and after the regular season was completed, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in the hunt to repeat as World Series champions. Nothing fluky here, the 2025 cream of the crop, let’s break down what could happen. (Odds from Betonline)
ALCS (2) Seattle Mariners (+127) vs. (1) Toronto Blue Jays (-147)
Though the television ratings might disappoint FOX for the ALCS, true baseball fans have to love this matchup.
Seattle has never reached the World Series in its 49 years of existence as the Mariners. (50 years if you want to count the Pilots, who played one season in 1969 before moving to Milwaukee to become the Brewers)
Toronto won back-to-back World Series in 1992-93, but has competed in baseball’s toughest division for decades, often to its demise, facing
the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays. Both teams worked on building rosters from within and trades to reach this juncture.
Toronto is built on hitting, defense, and has gotten enough pitching to reach this point. The Blue Jays were #1 in the majors in batting average, on-base percentage, and #4 in runs scored. That continued in their series against the New York Yankees and they will be their key against Seattle.
The Mariners offense is built differently, as they rely more on home runs and moving runners (3rd in stolen bases) to finish #9 in runs tallied.
The pitching aspect of this series favors Seattle. Here are the numbers:
Season starting pitching ranking: Mariners #12 – Blue Jays #20
Season Bullpen pitching ranking: Mariners #9 – Blue Jays #16
Toronto’s starting pitching has improved the last two months, which is largely why they are still playing.
What does this series come down to? The club can play the way they have all year. Does Seattle hit homers and have its pitchers control the Toronto lumber? Or do the Blue Jays’ bats put so much pressure on the Mariners’ hurlers to be perfect, they make mistakes and Toronto wins the series with the offense staying hot?
We picked Seattle to reach the Fall Classic and are sticking with the choice.
Update: Seattle pitchers held Toronto to a single run at home in taking Game 1, 3-1. The Mariners are now favored to win the series and will remain so unless the Blue Jays reclaim the series lead.
Free Pick: Seattle advances
NLCS (3) Los Angeles Dodgers (-210) vs. (1) Milwaukee Brewers (+180)
Milwaukee has home field advantage, was 6-0 against the Dodgers this season, yet is a decisive underdog in the NLCS.
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy did a masterful job of having his team reach this juncture. The Brewers’ style of play is similar to how Murphy grew up playing and when he managed successful baseball programs at Notre Dame and Arizona State.
The Brew Crew was #3 in batting average and #2 in OBP. Milwaukee was only #22 in home runs, but they apply so much pressure on opposing pitching and defenses by being #4 in walks, #26 in strikeouts, and #2 in stolen bases. This was backed up by tremendous starting pitching which was #3 in run prevention and #6 in bullpen run prevention.
Nobody liked playing the Brewers because they kept you on edge with their calculated aggressiveness.
The Los Angeles Dodgers might have won the NL West for the 12th time in 13 tries, yet they were a disappointment. Once again, starting pitchers were hurt, the bullpen had multiple injuries, and numerous everyday players had pedestrian or worse seasons.
Having two World Series this decade, manager Dave Roberts didn’t want all the chaos. Roberts understood he had the most talented roster in the sport, and if they could reach the playoffs and have everyone healthy and playing at least above average, L.A. would have a real chance to repeat since the last team, the 1998-2000 New Yankees.
The Dodgers have great starting pitching assembled for the postseason, along with proven playoff performers, which should be enough to overcome Milwaukee.
The Brewers have to play as they did in sweeping the Dodgers during the regular season. Utilizing strong starting pitching and a bullpen that shuts the door on the opposing offense. Offensively, have baserunners to be moved into scoring position and maximize opportunities. The key is sweeping the first two games at home, that would give the Crew a real chance.
Maybe that can happen, but the Dodgers are playing like the Dodgers and they’ve fortified the bullpen with starting pitchers, having so many, to the point it’s no longer a weakness.
Free Pick: L.A. Dodgers advance
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