OverDrive - Phillips on the Blue Jays' WS showdown, the matchup against the Dodgers and the team's bat power

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the Blue Jays and Dodgers in the World Series, how Toronto stacks up in the series, Bo Bichette returning to the lineup, the Blue Jays' offensive power, Trey Yesavage starting Game 1, the matchup against Blake Snell and more.

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This for license 12-616. Here's Steve Phillips or TSM Baseball Insider. How much of this for the Jay, Steve, is a mental grind and the psychology of not building up the Dodgers as this, you know, unstoppable force. And if you're John Snyder, how do you get that message across that they're just 26 baseball players in ball uniforms and they're going to try to play ball just like you're playing ball? Yeah, I've got to tell you, I think that we all feel that. I honestly don't believe the players feel it at all. I mean, I really don't. I think that they feel like, you know what, why can't we beat this team?

I mean, we're as good as anybody. And, you know, what they did to the Yankees and what they did to Seattle, where I think you could have made a case that many people thought they'd lose to the Yankees and to the Seattle Mariners, I think they'd just go out and play. Now, I will say that they'll have a level of confidence, but it's not like they don't hear the chatter, right? The noise that's out there of, you know, how good they are. Are they going to sweep you?

You know, it's going to be a short series. Everyone's predictions are Dodgers in four, Dodgers and five, and they hear it. But that's why I think game one is really important. Now, you know, it's important anyways. Like in the history of seven games series, the World Series, winners of game one, go on to win 63% of the time. However, since the, in this wild card era, it's 24 of the last 30 winners of the World Series one game one.

So it's really important. I think it's important for the J's. Just to go out there and show like we know who we are and we just play the game like we play and we won. So why can't we win this series? And it's interesting because four other times there have been matchups since 1985 in the World Series where one team swept the LCS, the other one went seven games.

And in all four cases, the team that went seven games won the World Series. Two of them were sweets, and two of them ended in five games. They were lopsided in favor of the team that played seven games. That the layoff hurt that other team, the team that swept. And so we'll see. Whether it's small sample size, we'll see if it impacts this series. But I don't think that, like I ended up picking the Dodgers in six, but I think it's not going to shock me if the Blue Jays win this series at all

and I think games one and two are going to be really critical if the Jays are going to win Steve how like put it in the importance list of Bow working out going into the lineup yeah so I you know I'm a little surprised that he's playing in the field I thought that they would force Springer out to the outfield and they would D.H. Boe. What I've seen from his workouts is that I don't know how he's going to do this

I agree man he's been right I mean he's been able to swing but watching him run like it's never been at a game speed not even at a full speed it's been a jog and you know the biggest challenge I see with the PCL is

deceleration is the abrupt stop and and you know where he ranges over to try to feel the ground ball he's got to plant his leg and throw to first base and can he do that? You know, you're running on first base and, you know, you're taken off.

You think the ball's going to go in the gap. The outfield runs it down. You've got to stop quickly and turn around and go back. Can he do that? But, you know, it may be that it's what they have to do to be able to get his bat in the lineup. And there are some who believe that even if it will, you know, diminish them defensively, the plus minus in hockey terms will be a plus just because you've got Springer and Bichette in the lineup, and, you know, yes, you might suffer a little defensively, but it might still be worth it.

How much of an adjustment is it for him to play second base, something he's never done at the major league level? Well, I think it's a big, I mean, I was an infielder, and, I mean, it's different. He's never played. Like, he played once, I think, at the minor league level once. And so I think it's a big deal, but, you know, because they can't go in barreling on double plays anymore, you know, it's a little bit, safer because, you know, you're blind turning the double play from second base, but getting the double play was the reason that they won, one of the games, the Savage's game in the league championship series. He pitched himself in the jams, bases loaded twice, and

got double play balls, and then got a third, double play. He's third, fourth, and fifth innings, he's got three straight innings of double plays, and, you know, kind of, kind of Philadelphia can turn it, Clement can turn it. So we'll see. I mean, again, it may be something that it cost them in some area. They just have to hope that it's worth the offense. Kind of the way I look at it, though, is honestly, Penner for Leff, I think, was 5 for 15 in the last series, and Clements swung the bat well,

and Jimenez swung that they all sort of have been playing like Boba Chet. You know what I mean? Like, they've played great defense, and they've swung the bat like you would expect Bichette to swing the bat. So, you know, I don't know. I'm a little dubious about him in the field. But, you know, they've seen him work out, and there's got to be some comfort level that they think he can do it because, you know, and they must have seen more than what I watched on all of the, you know, the ballpark cam video that I saw that made me really concerned about it.

Were you surprised that you Savage got the ball game one, or did you think it was going to be Gosman? No, I actually wasn't shocked. I thought there was a chance they might push Gosman having Pits for Relief on Monday this late in the year. And so, you know, it doesn't bother me at all. You know, they're both going to get two starts. And, you know, and I wouldn't be shocked maybe if they win game one, if they push Gosman to game three. You know, Joe Torrey, when his manager for the Yankees,

said, you know, they were in so many of these series that he always believed game three was the most critical game in a seven-game series. And so I think if the Jay's win, I wonder if they push Gosman and pushing the game three and fill in. in with Beaver or Scherzer in game two. We'll see. You know, but he has intimated that it would probably be Gosman in two, but I'm okay with that.

You know, the split, they're different-looking guys. And in some ways, Gosman is so different than you're Savage that the split fingers aren't the same. Really, they're categorized the same way, but they're two very different pitches. Gossmann drops off the table, and Yosevenges acts more like a change-up that drifts away from the hitter. And so there won't get any advantage if they're back-to-back for the Dodgers or disadvantage for the Blue Jays. Steve, how do you handicap the chances of Vladdy stealing some of the spotlight,

and we're not just talking about Otani? It's difficult to think that in this platform the biggest stage of baseball that Otani is just not going to go crazy, and everyone's going to say, wow, look at this guy again. Like, you think Vladdy can chisel into that, or what are your thoughts on it? Yeah. Oh, for sure. I mean, I mean, really, he's got a 1440 OPS. He had a 1330 OPS in the league championship series, and his postseason numbers went down.

I mean, right? I mean, it's crazy. Like, it's because he has been so good. It comes down to winning. If Vladdy's great and the Blue Jays win, even if Otani's great, it won't matter. It'll be about Vladdy. It will be about, you know, the football. $500 million contract. He's living up to that. He's leading this team. He's leading

this country. And, you know, guys, the other thing that really has struck me is that, you know, I was there in 2015-16. This team feels the most connected to representing all of Canada of any team that I've experienced. And maybe it's just my lack of experience. But they feel so committed to doing it for the country. They all speak in that language. language. And, you know, they all believe in that. And I think that rallying cry for them is extra motivation for sure. Well, and Vladdy will have to be at the forefront of it. And, you know, we've been obviously pumping the tires of Blake Snell, which is deserved, but he has not faced a guy like Vladdy yet. You know, there was no one in the previous

series he faced that has dialed in, that's a right-handed hitter like Vladdy and the way that he's been playing. And I feel like, you know, we've been kind of building towards that first head bat. O'Tonio step up first, take on you, Savage, boom, first pitch, World Series off and running. But Snell is going to see Vladdy quickly. Like, Vladdy's coming up in that first inning as well. I feel like you can't overemphasize, you know,

one at bat in a long series, but I feel like that's a big platform at bat. And if you want to send a message quickly to this rotation that is so elite in L.A., I could see Vladie stepping in and making that statement. And if he does, that allows the whole place to breathe. Like Vladis carried it over, he's still alive, he's still confident, look out. Yeah, and I think Springer can't too.

You know, the one thing, so Snell is the one guy, he throws 53% first-pitch fastballs, and none of their other pitchers are even over 40% on the first pitch. The Blue Jays have the highest swing percentage on the first pitch of an at bat. So if you're going to ambush somebody, Snell's kind of the guy because you're going to go up looking for a fastball, and typically you can get it from him. But I think the other thing to remember, yes, Snell was awesome. He was so good, right, in his last start.

Faced the middle of their first two games, they didn't face a single runner in scoring position. Dave Roberts was sitting on the bench instead of on the top step of the dugout to tell you how easy it was. But those guys, that was the best I've seen Snell ever. And we saw Cam Schlittler throw his best game ever against Boston, and he struck out like 13, and then he faced the Blue Jays, struck out two, and he jumped all over him. We saw Tray of Sevens throw five in a third shot, no-hit innings against the Yankees, but his next start wasn't great. The last start is not necessarily an indicator of the next start, and it's all fresh, it's all new.

It's a different lineup, different energy, and, you know, this is a team that doesn't strike out. And if Snell thinks he's going to go for strikeouts, this is a team that lays off the breaking ball in the dirt. They'll follow off the change-up and stay alive during the bat, and they'll put it in play. And I really would love to see them make Blake Snell field his position. Did he get a couple on?

I want to see him feel the bunt and turn and throw to first base. I want to do the same when Glass Now is in the game. Let that 6'7 lanky guy get. get off the mile, have to bend over, field the ball, stand up, make an accurate throw. I think there's some things that Jays can do to be aggressive out of the shoot and disrupt the flow. I also think that, you know, so for the Jays, you know, they've primarily, they've got to, obviously, what they're going to do against the starting pitching for the Dodgers is the most important

thing. Secondly, they've got to keep the Dodgers in the ballpark. Don't give up home runs. It's okay if they give up a double. It's okay if they get a single run in an inning. Avoid the crooked numbers. And here's the thing. The Blue Jays hit 20 home runs in the first 11 games of the postseason.

The Dodgers hit 13. All right. The Blue Jays, by the way, they hit every single pitch and slug over 500 on every pitch in the postseason this year. So, you know, we go, oh, they're going to throw a young mom. They're going to throw split. Okay, well, you know what? the Blue Jays and the postseason are out of their minds offensively hitting against off-speed pitches,

change-ups and splits. Snell wants to throw us change-up, okay, they've hit change-ups throughout this entire postseason, and good pitch you can neutralize good hitting, but there's good hitting, and there's what the Blue Jays do by putting it in play. And so there is a pathway for the Blue Jays to win this series. This is not a slam dunk. I keep here, people, oh, Dodgers this. There's absolutely a pathway for.

the Blue Jays to win this series. Run prevention critical. Keep it in the ballpark and you've got to find ways to keep the line moving offensively, which is what they've done this entire postseason. Yep, they have. They've been the top team in the American League. They have not

looked back for the most part and they've been through the ringer. Like it was somewhat easy for them against New York. It wasn't against Seattle. They had to show a lot of fortitude to pull that off. So I think they're ready for the moment as well. It's obviously, you know, a bit of an uphill battle, but that's why you play the games, and it starts tonight.

Cannot wait for it. Enjoy it. Steve, we'll do it again soon. Thank you for this. You got it, guys. Can't wait to talk to you next week. See where we are with the series. You got it. Steve Phillips, our TSM Baseball Insider.

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