MLB Playoffs 2025: Where do the NLCS and ALCS stand and what’s next?
Two games into both league championship series, we take a look at what we’ve seen and where each matchup will go from here.
We’re two games into the two 2025 League Championship Series, and it’s time to share our first impressions based on what we’ve seen on the field.
The Seattle Mariners return home with a 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays on consecutive days to start the series.
In the National League Championship Series, the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers have built a 2-0 road lead against the Milwaukee Brewers.
What has stood out the most so far and what does the future hold for World Series contenders? Our MLB experts weigh in.
ALCS: Mariners vs. Blue Jays
What has surprised you the most so far?
Jorge Castillo: Seattle’s pitching staff, depleted after a grueling American League Division Series that concluded with a 15-inning Game 5 on Friday, was supposed to need at least the opening game of Sunday’s American League Championship Series to recover. But the Mariners pitchers didn’t let up. Game 1 starter Bryce Miller set the tone, recovering from a shaky first inning to give the Mariners six crucial innings. The bullpen shined in Game 2, as Eduard Bazardo, Carlos Vargas and Emerson Hancock each pitched two scoreless innings. Tuesday’s off day should only help the Mariners as the series moves to their cavernous home stadium.
Jeff Passan: The Blue Jays’ lack of competitive at-bats. Yes, the Mariners pitching is very good. But the Blue Jays, whose high quality, focus on working the count and screwing up pitches all season helped them to the American League East championship, but erratically faced Miller’s pitches in Game 1 and did not improve much in Game 2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has not had a hit. Like Daulton Varsho, Andres Gimenez and Davis Schneider.
Four runs in two games won’t be enough against a lineup as deep as the Mariners and with a pitching staff as vulnerable as the Blue Jays have had this postseason.
How can the Mariners close this season at home?
Castle: Hitting home runs at T-Mobile Park isn’t easy — the Mariners hit 134 on the road and 108 at home — but home runs often make the difference in October. This was the case in the second game, when the Mariners scored eight of their 10 runs with three home runs: two three-run runs and one two-run run.
The Blue Jays allowed 209 home runs during the regular season, the sixth most allowed in the majors and the most allowed by a team in the postseason. If the Mariners continue to hit Blue Jays mistakes over the fence, Toronto’s chances of winning four of the next five games are slim to none.
Passan: Don’t take it as a coronation. Too much has happened in Mariners history to doubt that something could go very wrong. They have been in existence for 49 years and have not even reached a World Series.
The real answer: reduce strikeouts. The Mariners are striking out more than 30% of the time in the first two games, which reduces opportunities compared to Toronto, which has 13%. As Jorge said, as long as Seattle is hitting home runs, this might be irrelevant. However, if not, putting the ball in play can save them.
What can the Blue Jays do to get this series back to Toronto?
Castle: It all starts with scoring more runs. The Mariners’ pitching staff, tired and still, has silenced an offense that demolished the Yankees’ pitching last week. The Blue Jays scored just four runs in the two games in Toronto. All were scored in the first two innings. In Game 2, the Blue Jays went 1-for-28 with three walks after the second inning.
Nathan Lukes and George Springer are the only Blue Jays with multiple hits in the series. Guerrero is 0 for 7 with a walk after finishing the ALDS with 9 for 17 and three home runs. Varsho is 0 for 7. Addison Barger and Andrés Giménez are 0 for 6. Springer’s home run to open Game 1 was the only ball Toronto hit over the wall.
The Blue Jays scored 21 runs in a three-game sweep against the Mariners during the regular season. But that was at home in May, and T-Mobile Park is a pitcher’s paradise. It will be a quick series if their bats don’t wake up in Seattle.
Passan: Just look at Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers’ offense is struggling, and it doesn’t really matter because Blake Snell threw eight of the most brilliant innings you’ll ever see. And while Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer, the Blue Jays’ starters in Game 3 and Game 4, are nowhere near Snell’s caliber today, they are both former Cy Young winners who have pitched in big games. Seattle’s pitching is too good for Toronto to win this series with a give-and-take. So the Blue Jays will simply have to beat the Mariners with their own game: solid starting pitching and enough relief to fill the void.
NLCS
What has caught your attention the most so far?
Bradford Doolittle: The Dodgers’ starting pitching has been spectacular. It’s not just about all the zeroes that Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto put in; the Brewers hitters were outmatched against them most of the time. Milwaukee had a clear plan to ambush Yamamoto as much as possible in Game 2, but after Jackson Chourio’s leadoff home run in the inning, it just didn’t work. Yamamoto kept hitting strikes, and the Brewers did nothing with them.
Jesse Rogers: The Dodgers’ starting pitching went from shaky to dominant in the blink of an eye. Part of the reason the Brewers went 6-0 against Los Angeles during the regular season is that they faced a team that was rebuilding its starting staff. Dave Roberts even admitted to “playing slow” to Snell just to get him ready for this moment.
Not even a first-pitch home run by Chourio against Yamamoto in the second game could change history. Yamamoto threw a complete game of 111 pitches, allowing only two more hits and a walk after that home run. On most teams, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani would be the number one and two pitchers, but the Dodgers will pitch them against Milwaukee at Dodger Stadium later this week. It’s a big surprise, and it could ruin the Brewers’ chances of winning their first World Series title.
What do the Dodgers need to do to close this series at home?
Bradford Doolittle: Just keep riding the wave. Los Angeles’ rotation has become the story of the postseason so far, and while the Dodgers’ offense hasn’t matched the pitchers in terms of dominance, this is the hottest team around. And the offense is not going to continue like this forever.
Jesse Rogers: Just keep pitching like you’re doing and maybe they’ll get Ohtani going at the plate. Not that they’ve needed it until now, but if it starts to shine, this series won’t return to the Midwest. Closer Roki Sasaki will also likely feel more comfortable at home than he did in Game 1. All signs point to the Dodgers winning a short series.
What do the Brewers need to get this series back to Milwaukee?
Bradford Doolittle: They need traffic on the bases, especially early in games. They haven’t been able to show their athleticism against the Dodgers because no one has gotten on base. Get on base, hope to stun Glasnow and Ohtani, and hit the Los Angeles bullpen for the fourth or fifth inning. The formula isn’t complicated, but the way the Dodgers are going, executing it will be a challenge.
Jesse Rogers: Scoring more than one run in an inning would help. At some point, they need one of those Brewers innings, the kind that forces the defense to make mistakes while using their speed and skill on the bases to wreak havoc. It’s easier said than done against this Dodgers starting corps, but if they can get to the underbelly of the Los Angeles bullpen, they have a chance. That’s the way forward for the Brewers.
