Blue Jays-Dodgers World Series Game 5 Thread: Trey Yesavage vs Blake Snell

[Brock Beauchamp]

The 2025 World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers enters Game 5 with the series tied 2-2. In Game 1, Toronto erupted for an 11-4 win, exploiting Los Angeles’ bullpen early. In Game 2, the Dodgers answered with a dominant performance behind starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw a complete game and held the Jays to four hits and one run. Game 3 turned into a marathon 18-inning affair, won by Los Angeles via a walk-off home run by Freddie Freeman, and in Game 4, Toronto evened the series with a 6-2 victory behind a key two-run shot by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Rookie right-hander Trey Yesavage gets the nod for the Blue Jays in Game 5 — his second World Series start after beginning the season in Single-A. Yesavage became the second-youngest pitcher ever to start Game 1 of a World Series, at 22 years and 88 days old. He started Game 1 and worked four innings, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks while his team won 11-4.

On the Dodgers’ side, veteran left-hander Blake Snell starts Game 5, looking to rebound after a shaky World Series opener. Snell entered the postseason with strong metrics and a 0.86 ERA in his first three starts, but in Game 1, he left with the bases loaded and all inherited runners scored. Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ pitching usage over the past two days has been extreme: Game 3’s 18-inning marathon saw the bullpen use nine relievers to cover 13⅓ innings of one-run ball, the most relievers ever used in a World Series game. The Dodgers' bullpen is their biggest weakness: in the second half of 2025, their 4.37 FIP was 23rd in baseball.

Blake Snell vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Current Batters Table

Rk	Player	B	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	SH	SF	IBB	HBP	GIDP
1	George Springer	R	17	15	4	0	0	1	3	2	1	.267	.353	.467	.820	0	0	0	0	2
2	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	R	12	9	2	1	0	0	1	3	0	.222	.417	.333	.750	0	0	0	0	0
3	Bo Bichette	R	9	7	1	0	0	0	0	2	3	.143	.333	.143	.476	0	0	0	0	1
4	Daulton Varsho	L	9	8	2	1	0	0	1	1	2	.250	.333	.375	.708	0	0	0	0	0
5	Anthony Santander	B	7	6	1	0	0	1	3	0	1	.167	.143	.667	.810	0	1	0	0	0
6	Myles Straw	R	6	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.167	.167	.167	.333	0	0	0	0	0
7	Ernie Clement	R	5	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.200	.200	.200	.400	0	0	0	0	0
8	Ty France	R	5	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	.200	.200	.400	.600	0	0	0	0	0
9	Davis Schneider	R	5	4	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.250	.400	.250	.650	0	0	0	0	0
10	Isiah Kiner-Falefa	R	4	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.000	.250	.000	.250	0	0	0	0	0
11	Alejandro Kirk	R	4	3	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.667	.750	.667	1.417	0	0	0	0	0
12	Kevin Gausman	L	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
13	Leo Jiménez	R	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000	.500	.000	.500	0	0	0	0	0

Provided by Stathead.com: Found with Stathead. See Full Results.
Generated 10/29/2025.

Toronto’s four top hitters in this series:

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has posted a .419 batting average in the postseason (26 hits in 62 ABs), with seven home runs and an OPS of 1.306.

• Addison Barger has gone 16-for-49 (.327) with an OBP of .389 and an OPS of .940.

• Alejandro Kirk has logged 15 hits in 59 at-bats (.254) with an OPS of .880.

• George Springer has 13 hits in 57 at-bats (.246) and an OPS of .884.

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[Masterbather]

Well on the downside, they're getting a second quick look at Yesavage and might be even tougher on him. 

On the upside, he wasn't at his best, and his splitter was not at its best so if he's sharper this time around it might not matter.

I do expect Snell to be sharper. Hopefully we can work the count and get him into trouble.

With Yamamoto on deck, kind of feel like we've got to get this one.

 

[glory]

Work the count and get to their pen as early as possible so that Barger and Lukes can get back into the game earlier. That was the difference in Game 1 with the Barger grand slam. If Snell goes deep into the game then that’s not a good thing for the Jays, Make him work.

[Jays24]

Can we please stop using IKF unless we are winning in the 9th inning and need the defense?  This should be the only time him/Straw enter the game.  Im sick of their bad ABs with very little upside.  

With that said, lets take control of this series with a win tonight!!

[Terminator]

1 hour ago, Masterbather said:

Well on the downside, they're getting a second quick look at Yesavage and might be even tougher on him. 

On the upside, he wasn't at his best, and his splitter was not at its best so if he's sharper this time around it might not matter.

I do expect Snell to be sharper. Hopefully we can work the count and get him into trouble.

With Yamamoto on deck, kind of feel like we've got to get this one.

 

Yeah he barely used his splitter in Game 1.

13% of the time compared to 26% in the regular season.

If he can get that pitch working tonight we've got a good shot.

[Alejandro Murphy]

Rook will give us the series lead.

 

Lets go Jays !

[max silver]

15 minutes ago, Terminator said:

Yeah he barely used his splitter in Game 1.

13% of the time compared to 26% in the regular season.

If he can get that pitch working tonight we've got a good shot.

I was impressed at how Yesavage was able to battle despite having very little feel for his splitter. The Dodgers haven't had to face the best version of Yesavage yet and Trey has bounced back very nicely from his weaker starts so I expect he should be much more effective tonight.

[ComeTogether]

First road playoff start from the rookie 

If he can hold his own, Jays can take Snell. 

[Terminator]

Lineup decisions for tonight:

• Schneider over Lukes is likely.
• In Game 1 they went with Straw over Barger, will they do that again?
• If Springer is in, Bo will play 2B.
• If Springer is out they will have a decision to make: 
  • Play Bo at 2B and France at DH?
  • Or Bo at DH and IKF at 2B?

 

 

 

[Laika]

You CANNOT go Straw over Barger. Straw has been hopeless against this higher quality pitching. 

Schneider vs Lukes is interesting, dunno how I would go on that. You platoon them all day every day on paper but in the playoffs, DS has had limited PAs, Lukes has been fantastic, and Snell can pump velo up at DS which is a problem. 

I would feel weird about France getting a start. 

[Laika]

If Yesavage has his splitter, it will be like the Dodgers are seeing him for the first time. 

Fingers crossed! 

[glory]

Yeah I don’t think Straw or IKF should start tonight (or ever) but JS has managed this way all season and I doubt he will change now. If Springer doesn’t play then I suspect DS, Straw, and IKF are all in there. If Springer does play then it’s probably choosing between Straw and IKF as JS has consistently used DS against LHP so I don’t think that changes. If Springer is out then my guess on the lineup:

LF Schneider
1B Vladdy
DH Bo
CA Kirk
CF Varsho
3B Clement
2B IKF
SS Gimenez
RF Straw

Lukes and Barger will pinch hit as soon as Snell is gone. Same formula as last time.

[Brownie19]

1 hour ago, Jays24 said:

Can we please stop using IKF unless we are winning in the 9th inning and need the defense?  This should be the only time him/Straw enter the game.  Im sick of their bad ABs with very little upside.  

With that said, lets take control of this series with a win tonight!!

The Jays have the best offense in the playoffs by a landslide - all with IKF starting most games.  You know they're going to value defense over offense and start IKF.  This game gets a lot more difficult to navigate if Trey can't give us 5 or 6 innings and thus a strong defense to help avoid the big inning is going to be valued.

At some point, you could probably show an ounce of faith in the decision making process that has us 2 wins away from the World Series title eh?  Just a thought.

[infinitebook]

2 hours ago, Jays24 said:

Can we please stop using IKF unless we are winning in the 9th inning and need the defense?  This should be the only time him/Straw enter the game.  Im sick of their bad ABs with very little upside.  

With that said, lets take control of this series with a win tonight!!

IKF has been solid, he's not striking out and almost was the guy who broke the game open yesterday. I don't mind him batting 9th. Straw on the other hand looks lost at the plate, he cannot be out there.

[sliderguy35]

part of the reason why yesavage's splitter wasn't really a factor in game 1 is because he was rarely getting count leverage (only 50% first pitch strikes). during his regular season starts, he would only throw it 10% of the time when behind in the count.

it'll be interesting to see if the blue jays bump the early count splitter usage first time through the order as a bit of a mixup (similarly to what the dodgers did with yamamoto in game 2).

[Terminator]

After last night's game it sounds like Dave Roberts might be considering some changes.

The bottom of their lineup sucks and Pages is 4 for 50 this postseason.

But their bench also sucks and they haven't started any of those guys in 3 weeks.

[max silver]

13 minutes ago, sliderguy35 said:

part of the reason why yesavage's splitter wasn't really a factor in game 1 is because he was rarely getting count leverage (only 50% first pitch strikes). during his regular season starts, he would only throw it 10% of the time when behind in the count.

it'll be interesting to see if the blue jays bump the early count splitter usage first time through the order as a bit of a mixup (similarly to what the dodgers did with yamamoto in game 2).

That's an interesting tidbit for certain but I don't think it would have changed much with regards to splitter usage if Yesavage was getting ahead in the count as he had little to no command of the pitch.

[Laika]

17 minutes ago, Terminator said:

After last night's game it sounds like Dave Roberts might be considering some changes.

The bottom of their lineup sucks and Pages is 4 for 50 this postseason.

But their bench also sucks and they haven't started any of those guys in 3 weeks.

They have been toying with Alex Call more the last two games

Justin Dean is just a pinch runner. Hyeosong Kim has no PA all playoffs. 

Miguel Rojas? 

Willingly starting Kike Hernandez and expecting his Postseason Pixie Dust to be a real thing is wild, in the year 2025. 

Dave Roberts should put Smith or Teo 2nd and drop Mookie to 6th, to be honest. 

[Terminator]

4 minutes ago, Laika said:

They have been toying with Alex Call more the last two games

Justin Dean is just a pinch runner. Hyeosong Kim has no PA all playoffs. 

Miguel Rojas? 

Willingly starting Kike Hernandez and expecting his Postseason Pixie Dust to be a real thing is wild, in the year 2025. 

Dave Roberts should put Smith or Teo 2nd and drop Mookie to 6th, to be honest. 

Yep I don't remember the exact quote from Roberts but it sounded like sticking with Pages, or going with Call or Rojas (with Edman in CF) were all mentioned as options. 

Totally agree with you on Kike. He's completely washed and has been for years and thankfully Mookie is following the same trend.

They've got a superstar, 2 stars, 2 mistake hitters, a very mid Mookie, and then three black holes in the lineup. It's a darn good lineup but it is beatable and has been all playoffs.

[keggy]

Yesavage has had extreme groundball tendencies so far in his career. I say go all in on defence, IKF, Straw, Lukes. Let Schneider and Barger feast on the Dodgers pen.

[Laika]

Pages is a +12 CF

I fully support any move that takes him off the field and replaces him with some guy who has not played meaningful CF innings in a while 

[Terminator]

3 minutes ago, keggy said:

Yesavage has had extreme groundball tendencies so far in his career. I say go all in on defence, IKF, Straw, Lukes. Let Schneider and Barger feast on the Dodgers pen.

I'm not sure on Straw vs. Barger but good point on the GB tendencies.

IKF is going to be in there and Bo at DH, if Springer is out.

[Big_Walleye]

2 minutes ago, Terminator said:

I'm not sure on Straw vs. Barger but good point on the GB tendencies.

IKF is going to be in there and Bo at DH, if Springer is out.

Barger showed that he can be dangerous against a tough lefty in game 1 and his arm in RF is such a weapon.  He should start tonight without question.  

[R.O.]

Barger's arm is a weapon, but his range is not

[Laika]

The lineup can stomach IKF and Gimenez at the bottom but adding Straw to that pile is just too much slap hitting slop.

Barger runs like a bodybuilder but he's probably not as bad out there as say Teoscar Hernandez 

[Terminator]

The best option might be Schneider in left and Lukes in RF. Barger can pinch hit.

Lukes has better splits against lefties as well as far better range than Barger in the OF.

I could see Lukes working the count against Snell and getting some walks. Could spray some hits around as well.

[Laika]

Yeah it's tough for me to bench Lukes, I just believe he can solve every at bat for some reason

[Laika]

He has to be over Banda and Treinen so I think Roberts is going to go to Wrobleski, Henriquez, and Sheehan tonight in between Snell and Sasaki 

What you are hoping for if Henriguez come in is command issues 

 

[mphenhef]

1 hour ago, Terminator said:

After last night's game it sounds like Dave Roberts might be considering some changes.

The bottom of their lineup sucks and Pages is 4 for 50 this postseason.

But their bench also sucks and they haven't started any of those guys in 3 weeks.

That's quite a downgrade in CF too if they pull Pages.

[hanton]

Straw looks TERRIBLE at the plate (looking like his old 4th OF self) I would not start him over Barger