The Los Angeles Dodgers hold Box-Toppers points advantages over the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2025 World Series.
The American League champion Blue Jays are the higher-seeded postseason team and have home-field advantage, hosting up to four of the possible seven games of the World Series. But that comes by virtue of only one more win than the Dodgers, the National League champion. The Blue Jays won 94 games in the 2025 regular season while the Dodgers won 93.
However, the Dodgers hold a Box-Toppers points advantage in key player categories, notably in starting pitching. Their probable four starting pitchers not only have more combined Box-Toppers points than the Blue Jays’ likely starters, but they also hold an extra semi-phantom advantage: Three of the four probable Dodgers starters—Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani—missed significant time in the 2025 regular season recovering from injury. All three have been among Box-Toppers’ points leaders in previous seasons but had relatively few points in 2025 due to missed time. But all three of those pitchers have ramped up to full volume simultaneously, displaying their Box-Toppers points-winning prowess of previous seasons and peaking just in time during the postseason.
The Dodgers hold Box-Toppers points advantages over the Blue Jays in these categories:
Overall team points: Dodgers players accumulated 117.9 Box-Toppers points in 2025, fifth overall and third among NL teams. The Blue Jays have 111.7 Box-Toppers points, 10th overall and fifth among AL teams.
Core team roster: The Dodgers’ likely starting World Series roster has 92.7 points compared to 91.5 for the Blue Jays. (Click here to see a Box-Toppers World Series player-by-player comparison.)
Starting pitchers: The four probable starting pitchers for the Dodgers have 31.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025 compared to 21.1 for the four Blue Jays probable starters.
However, the Blue Jays do hold these Box-Toppers points advantages over the Dodgers:
Key nine starting batters: The Blue Jays have 32.2 Box-Toppers points compared to 28.6 for the Dodgers.
Key bench players: The top four likely Blue Jays bench players have a combined 8.2 Box-Toppers points compared to 7.0 points for the Dodgers’ four top bench players.
Bullpen: The Blue Jays’ likely relief pitchers for the series have 30.0 combined Box-Toppers points compared to 25.4 for the Dodgers.
Starting pitching is the Dodgers’ biggest strength
Last year, when the Dodgers faced the New York Yankees in the World Series, I included a heading that said, “Starting pitching is the Dodgers’ biggest problem.” Furthermore, I said there was no way the eventual 2024 World Series champions could win the 2024 World Series with a starting pitching staff as depleted as theirs was. That, obviously, proved incorrect.
This year, it is hard to see how they can lose the World Series with the same starting pitching staff that tore through the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Championship Series, holding them to four runs in a four-game sweep.
However, only one of the Dodgers’ likely four starting pitchers even ranks among the top 35 NL pitchers for 2025: Yoshinobu Yamamoto has 17.7 Box-Toppers points, most among all players in the World Series, seventh among all players and fourth among NL pitchers.
The other three probable starters, as previously mentioned, missed time in 2025 recovering from injury, so don’t rank highly in 2025 Box-Toppers points:
Blake Snell, 7.0 points, 98th among all players, 36th among NL pitchers. Snell missed about four months with left shoulder inflammation. Had he earned Box-Toppers points at his 2025 rate over a full season, he would have 21.0, enough to contend for the lead among NL pitchers.
Tyler Glasnow, 5.0 points, 185th among all players, 57th among NL pitchers. Glasnow missed two months in May and June with right shoulder inflammation.
Shohei Ohtani, 5.5 total Box-Toppers points in 2025, but just 2.0 for pitching, with the other 3.5 coming as a batter. He qualified to rank among both pitchers and batters, with his 5.5 points placing him 55th among NL pitchers, 27th among NL batters and 171st overall. Ohtani underwent elbow surgery after the 2023 season, did not pitch in 2024 in his first year with the Dodgers, and only made his 2025 pitching debut on June 16. He started pitching just one inning per game, but was slowly ramped up to five innings or more in three of his last four regular-season starts.
All four likely Dodgers starters were Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in the four NL Championship Series Games, limiting the Brewers to one run per game: Snell in Game 1, Yamamoto in Game 2, Glasnow in Game 3 and Ohtani in Game 4. While Yamamoto has been a consistent starter, earning Box-Toppers points steadily through the season, the other three have proven dominant, especially in September and October.
Among the six players who have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors at least twice this postseason, four of them are the four likely Dodgers starters:
Snell has done it three times, most of any player: NL Wild Card Game on Sept. 30, NLDS Game 2 on Oct. 6 and NLCS Game 1 on Oct. 13.
Yamamoto has done it twice: NL Wild Card Game 2 on Oct. 1 and NLCS Game 2 on Oct. 14.
Glasnow has done it twice: NLDS Game 4 on Oct. 9 and NLCS Game 3 on Oct. 16.
Ohtani has done it twice (both as a pitcher): NLCS Game 1 on Oct. 4 and NLCS Game 4 on Oct. 17.
(The other two players who have earned Player of the Game honors twice this postseason are Jorge Polanco of the Mariners and Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski.)
Blue Jays’ pitching staff hurt by loss of Berríos
The four likely Blue Jays starting pitchers have a combined 21.1 Box-Toppers points in 2025 and the team won’t have starter José Berríos for the World Series, ruled out with right elbow inflammation. Berríos, whose been on the injured list since Sept. 24, earned 11.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 26th among all players, 14th among AL pitchers and second among all Blue Jays players.
Here is a look at the Blue Jays’ likely four starting pitchers:
Kevin Gausman, 14.1 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 15th among all players, seventh among AL pitchers.
Max Scherzer, 3.0 points in 2025, 327th among all players, 97th among AL pitchers.
Shane Bieber, 3.0 points, 330th among all players, 98th among AL pitchers.
Trey Yesavage, 1.0 point, tied for 709th among all players, tied for 194th among AL pitchers.
Only Bieber and Yesavage have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors as Blue Jays starters this postseason. Bieber did it in ALCS Game 3 on Oct. 15 and Yesavage did it ALDS Game 2 on Oct. 5.
Like Yamamoto for the Dodgers, Gausman has been the steady, reliable, healthy starter for the Blue Jays in 2025. The veteran has 112.2 career Box-Toppers points earned over 13 consecutive seasons, including his best year, 2023, when he had 18.7 points with the Blue Jays, fourth overall and third among AL pitchers. Gausman has made four appearances this postseason, including one in relief, but did not earned Player of the Game honors in any of them.
Scherzer and Bieber both missed time in 2025 recovering from injury. Scherzer, 41, missed nearly three full months in the first half of the season due to inflammation in his right thumb, along with additional time for other injuries throughout the year. Bieber missed more than a year after undergoing elbow reconstruction surgery in April 2024, returning to pitch in mid-August 2025.
Yesavage did not make his Major League debut until Sept. 15, appearing in three regular season games (and earning his only career Player of the Game honors in his Sept. 15 debut).
World Series features top two active players in career Box-Toppers points
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | Retired | 282.5 |
| 2 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 280.8 |
| 3 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | Rangers | 256.7 |
| 4 | Justin Verlander | pi sp | Astros | 250.0 |
| 5 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | Retired | 244.8 |
| 6 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | Free agent | 224.5 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b | Retired | 207.8 |
| 8 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | Retired | 203.4 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | Retired | 194.1 |
| 10 | Alex Rodriguez | 3b | Retired | 187.0 |
| 11 | Chris Sale | pi sp | Braves | 183.8 |
| 12 | Jon Lester | pi sp | Retired | 179.3 |
| 13 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | Retired | 175.1 |
| 14 | Cole Hamels | pi sp | Retired | 174.2 |
| 15 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | Retired | 170.7 |
| 16 | Johan Santana | pi sp | Retired | 166.6 |
| 17 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | Retired | 166.2 |
| 18 | Gerrit Cole | pi sp | Yankees | 165.0 |
| 19 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | Retired | 164.8 |
| 20 | John Smoltz | pi sp | Retired | 160.9 |
While their best days may be behind them, the 2025 World Series features Box-Toppers’ top two active players in career Box-Toppers points: Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer.
Kershaw, 37, has 280.8 career Box-Toppers points, second-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and first among active players.
Scherzer, 41, has 256.7 career Box-Toppers points, third-most since 1995, second among active players behind Kershaw and most among active AL pitchers, ahead of Gerrit Cole of the Yankees (165.0).
Kershaw has announced he will retire at the end of the 2025 season. He earned 8.4 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 72nd among all players, 28th among NL pitchers and second among Dodgers who are playing in the postseason. While he had a bounce back season in 2025 and has long been the team’s unquestioned ace, he has been relegated to a bullpen role in the 2025 postseason, appearing in just one game, the NLDS Game 3 loss on Oct. 8, in which he gave up five runs and six hits over two innings.
Kershaw earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors on the final day of the 2025 season Sept. 28, finishing his career just 1.7 Box-Toppers points behind Randy Johnson, who earned 282.5 career points from 1995 until his 2009 retirement. (It should be noted that Johnson began his career in 1988, before the advent of Box-Toppers tracking. If his entire career were tracked, rough projections put his Box-Toppers point total at 380.)
Scherzer has made no indication he is retiring. He was not included on the Blue Jays roster in the NL Division Series, but was added in the NL Championship Series, starting in the ALCS Game 4 win on Oct. 16, but did not earn Player of the Game honors.
Blue Jays hold edge among batters, bench
Blue Jays’ batters have 32.2 Box-Toppers points in 2025 compared to 28.6 for the Dodgers. Also, the top four likely Blue Jays bench players have a combined 8.2 Box-Toppers points compared to 7.0 points for the Dodgers’ four top bench players.
Designated hitter George Springer of the Blue Jays leads all batters in the series with 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, first among AL batters. This was the lowest Box-Toppers point total to lead any category in a regular-length season since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. The previous record low was 10.7 points by Nolan Arenado of the Rockies to lead NL batters in 2016. The record low to lead AL batters in a season was 12.1 by Edwin Encarnacion of Cleveland in 2017, so Springer’s total was 2.4 points lower than that.
Third baseman Max Muncy led Dodgers with 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 10th among NL batters.
Though Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers is an NL Most Valuable Player favorite, he earned only 5.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025—3.5 as a batter and 2.0 as a pitcher. His combined 5.5 points places him just 27th among NL batters.
Ohtani hit 55 home runs and started 14 games as a pitcher, but had a drop-off season in Box-Toppers points. He earned 11.0 points in 2024 (hitting 54 homers and driving in 130 runs), to lead NL batters. But in 2025, he had only half that many Box-Toppers points because other Dodgers players frequently beat him for Player of the Game honors in team wins. Ohtani earned his 3.5 points as a batter on June 27 and before and earned his 2.0 points as a pitcher on July 12 and later.
Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette is expected to return to the World Series after being out since Sept. 6 with a left knee injury. With his starting status uncertain, I’ve placed him among the Blue Jays bench players. While Bichette played in 139 games in 2025 and had a statistically impressive season (18 homers and 94 runs batted in ), he only earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025.
Source: MLB.com
Blue Jays batters have won Player of the Game honors in four of the team’s seven wins, while no Dodgers batters have won Player of the Game honors in their team’s nine postseason wins, which have all been won by starting pitchers. The Blue Jays batters who have won Player of the Game honors this postseason:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in ALDS Game 1 on Oct. 4. (Guerrero has 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 47th among AL batters.)
Ernie Clement in ALDS Game 4 on Oct. 8. (Clement has 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2025, 159th among AL batters.)
Andrés Giménez in ALCS Game 4 on Oct. 16. (Giménez earned 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 77th among AL batters.)
Addison Barger in ALCS Game 6 on Oct. 19. (Barger earned 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 84th among AL batters.)
Blue Jays have the bullpen advantage
The Blue Jays’ likely relief pitchers for the series have 30.0 combined Box-Toppers points compared to 25.4 for the Dodgers.
The Blue Jays have the distinct advantage in closing pitchers with Jeff Hoffman, who earned 8.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, first among all closing pitchers.
Hoffman was Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the ALCS Game 7 win on Oct. 20.
The Dodgers have been using Roki Sasaki as a closer, but he has yet to earn regular season Player of the Game honors and so has 0.0 career Box-Toppers points and no Box-Toppers ranking. He made 10 appearances in 2025, including eight starts. He was out from May to September with a right shoulder impingement and was activated in late September, making two relief appearances.
He’s made seven relief appearances in the 2025 postseason, earning three saves, but no Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.
The Blue Jays bullpen is bolstered by the addition of two pitchers who earned Box-Toppers points as starters during the 2025 regular season:
Eric Lauer, 10.0 points, 44th among all players and 24th among AL pitchers.
Chris Bassitt, 7.0 points, 104th among all players and 42nd among AL pitchers.
The Dodgers bullpen is similarly bolstered by the addition of usual starter Clayton Kershaw, whose 8.4 points in 2025 ranked 72nd among all players and 28th among NL pitchers.
Players with no points in 2025
The chart elsewhere on this page shows four likely World Series participants who earned no points in 2025: Tommy Edman, Ben Rortvedt and Roki Sasaki of the Dodgers and Yariel Rodríguez of the Blue Jays. Sasaki has yet to make his regular-season Box-Toppers debut, earning his first career Player of the Game honor, and so has no ranking. The other three players all rank lower than the 776 players who earned Box-Toppers points in 2025 and are ranked based on their 2024 Box-Toppers point totals. Edman is the only player among the likely starting nine batters with 0.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025.
The best-of-seven game World Series begins Friday in Toronto.
World Series player comparisons
Probable players for the Dodgers and Blue Jays listed by position with their Box-Toppers point total (BTP) for the 2025 regular season and their overall rank among all players:| Los Angeles Dodgers | Toronto Blue Jays | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Players | BTP | Rank | Pos | Players | BTP | Rank | |
| 1B | Freddie Freeman | 4.5 | 224 | 1B | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | 4.0 | 245 | |
| 2B | Tommy Edman | 0.0 | 881 | 2B | Isiah Kiner‑Falefa | 1.0 | 217 | |
| SS | Mookie Betts | 5.2 | 182 | SS | Andrés Giménez | 2.5 | 378 | |
| 3B | Max Muncy | 7.5 | 90 | 3B | Ernie Clement | 1.0 | 633 | |
| CA | Will Smith | 1.0 | 593 | CA | Alejandro Kirk | 7.0 | 115 | |
| CF | Andy Pages | 2.7 | 370 | CF | Daulton Varsho | 2.5 | 380 | |
| LF | Enrique Hernández | 1.5 | 540 | LF | Nathan Lukes | 2.0 | 512 | |
| RF | Teoscar Hernández | 2.7 | 368 | RF | Addison Barger | 2.5 | 397 | |
| DH | Shohei Ohtani† | 3.5 | 171† | DH | George Springer | 9.7 | 46 | |
| PH | Alex Call | 4.0 | 269 | PH | Myles Straw | 4.7 | 644 | |
| PH | Miguel Rojas | 2.0 | 418 | PH | Bo Bichette | 1.5 | 556 | |
| PH | Hyeseong Kim | 1.0 | 745 | PH | Davis Schneider | 1.0 | 604 | |
| PH | Ben Rortvedt | 0.0 | 849 | PH | Tyler Heineman | 1.0 | 701 | |
| SP | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | 17.7 | 7 | SP | Kevin Gausman | 14.1 | 15 | |
| SP | Blake Snell | 7.0 | 98 | SP | Max Scherzer | 3.0 | 327 | |
| SP | Tyler Glasnow | 5.0 | 185 | SP | Shane Bieber | 3.0 | 330 | |
| SP | Shohei Ohtani† | 2.0 | 171† | SP | Trey Yesavage | 1.0 | 776 | |
| CP | Roki Sasaki | 0.0 | —* | CP | Jeff Hoffman | 8.0 | 73 | |
| PI | Clayton Kershaw | 8.4 | 72 | PI | Eric Lauer | 10.0 | 44 | |
| PI | Justin Wrobleski | 6.0 | 149 | PI | Chris Bassitt | 7.0 | 104 | |
| PI | Alex Vesia | 5.0 | 205 | PI | Louis Varland | 2.0 | 476 | |
| PI | Emmet Sheehan | 3.0 | 346 | PI | Mason Fluharty | 2.0 | 499 | |
| PI | Ben Casparius | 2.0 | 494 | PI | Seranthony Domínguez | 1.0 | 640 | |
| PI | Anthony Banda | 1.0 | 704 | PI | Yariel Rodríguez | 0.0 | 848 | |
| Totals | 92.7 | Totals | 91.5 | |||||
| Starting batters | 28.6 | Starting batters | 32.2 | |||||
| Bench | 7.0 | Bench | 8.2 | |||||
| Starting pitchers | 31.7 | Starting pitchers | 21.1 | |||||
| Bullpen | 25.4 | Bullpen | 30.0 | |||||
• “Starting batters” shows each team’s Box-Toppers points among the most likely starting nine batters.
• “Bench” is the combined Box-Toppers point totals of top four bench players, listed here as PH (pinch hitters), though some may serve as starters in certain games.
• “Starting pitchers” is the combined Box-Toppers point totals of the four likely starting pitchers.
• “Bullpen” is the combined Box-Toppers point totals of pitchers not listed as starters (SP) or closers (CP).
* Rookie Roki Sasaki did not earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors during his first regular season in 2025 and so has no career Box-Toppers points and no ranking.
† Shohei Ohtani is expected to be used both as a designated hitter and pitcher in the series. He earned 5.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025, ranking 171st among all players. For this chart, his batting and pitching points are separated—he earned 3.5 as a batter and 2.0 as a pitcher.
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World Series Game 1, Dodgers at Blue Jays
Friday’s pitching matchup (for more, see matchups chart below):
Dodgers—Blake Snell, 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 98th among all players and 36th among NL pitchers.
He’s earned Player of the Game honors in all three of his 2025 postseason starts: In the NL Wild Card Game 1 win over the Reds on Sept. 30, in the NL Division Series Game 2 win over the Phillies on Oct. 6 and in the NL Championship Series Game 1 win over the Brewers on Oct. 13.
Blue Jays—Trey Yesavage, 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2025, tied for 709th among all players, tied for 194th among AL pitchers. Yesavage made his Major League debut Sept. 15 and has appeared in three regular-season games.
He’s made three postseason appearances:
He was Player of the Game in the ALDS Game 2 win over the Yankees on Oct. 5 (5.1IP 0H 0R BB 11K W).
He started the ALCS Game 2 loss to the Mariners on Oct. 13, recording a game-low -9.0 Box-Toppers game score (4IP 4H 5R 3BB 4K L).
He started in the ALCS Game 6 win over the Mariners on Oct. 19, but was not Player of the Game, recording a -0.8 Box-Toppers game score (5.2IP 6H 2R 3BB 7K W).
A Box-Toppers look at Friday’s World Series pitching matchups
A Box-Toppers look at the upcoming day’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2025 (’25), this year and last year (’24-25), over a six-year period (’20-25) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’25 | ’24‑25 | ’20‑25 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAD | Snell, Blake 3688 | 7.0 | 22.7 | 65.6 | 111.8 |
| TOR | Yesavage, Trey 5287 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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About Box-Toppers
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day. (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.)
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