The Los Angeles Dodgers are four games away from winning the World Series.
Okay, technically, the series could go as many as seven games regardless of who pulls out the win, but the Dodgers have only lost one game over three series, including seven wins in eight tries against the teams that finished ahead of them in the NL standings.
They've turned in some of the very best pitching performances one will see in the month of October, including Blake Snell absolutely demnolishing the Brewers in Game 1 before Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw a complete game the next night, and capped off their series against Milwaukee with Shohei Ohtani throwing 10 K's while hitting three home runs in what is widely being called one of the best individual performances in baseball history.
Could the Blue Jays give the Dodgers trouble in the World Series? Most certainly, they fought the Seattle Mariners tooth and nail to earn a spot in the World Series and look like the kind of team that could parlay that success into an even more captivating performance on the international stage for fans from two separate countries to marvel at.
And yet, at the end of the day, the Dodgers weren't built to challenge for any regular season winning records or to set any individual marks of success, but instead to recapture the Commissioner's Trophy for the second time in as many seasons, with a slew of new, healthy pitchers, and a reliable starting lineup to help get that done.
But who, one may ask, is the most important player in guaranteeing that the Dodgers leave the World Series with the win, instead of becoming the butt of countless jokes for surrendering the trophy to their counterparts north of the border? Well, while getting elite caliber stuff from any of the team's three MVPs would certainly put the ball in Dave Roberts' court, if Blake Snell can pitch like he did in Game 1 against the Blue Jays in Game 1 and beyond, it could really set the tone against a team that hasn't made it back to the World Series since the Dallas Cowboys were winning Super Bowls and VHS was the popular medium of the era.
Why Blake Snell could make or break the Dodgers' World Series push
With Game 1 still a few days away, Dave Roberts firmly announced his initial starters for the Dodgers' first two games in Toronto, with Blake Snell set to pitch in Game 1 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto following close behind in Game 2. Should the series go as planned and LA return to Chavez Ravine with a 2-0 lead, Roberts noted he might just be willing to run back his strategy from the NLCS, allowing Tyler Glasnow to start in Game 3 before Shohei Ohtani takes it home in Game 4 to either cap off his MVP-caliber season, or give the Dodgers one more chance to secure a home win before returning to Toronto for the series finale.
Because Snell earned the nod for Game 1, he effectively has a chance to set the tone for the series right away, taking the mound after Ohtani, Betts, and Teoscar Hernandez to face off against the first three hitters skipper John Schneider sends to the plate, likely Springer, Nathan Lukes, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., if the ALCS is of any indication. If he mows down the Blue Jays in order, extending his hitless streak into double-digit innings on the way to another demoralizing win, that could perfectly set up Yamamoto for another showdown with the wind behind in his sails, a situation he's dominated in so far this season.
Fast forward to Game 4 of the World Series, and Snell could be sitting pretty, watching his team win it all with Ohtani on the mound and getting his first ring while teammates like Yamamoto go for two. Or he could be getting ready for Game 5, with Roberts returning to his ace for a 3-1 elimination game.
… or, baseball gods forbid, the Dodgers could find themselves sitting at 0-3 heading into the game with their very season on the line, and Roberts could call on Snell, his best arm, to save a season on the brink of elimination, with everyone shifting their schedule up a day and Ohtani fully ready to throw from the bullpen if needed in order to keep the season alive. If that happens, Snell will find himself in one of the most important positions in recent Dodgers history, with an ability to quite literally make or break the season in Game 4 and maybe even throw Game 7 if Los Angeles could rally back in time for Game 7.
In professional baseball, starting pitchers, almost by design, can only impact a series so much. Snell could win both of his starts and still lose the series, or struggle mightily in both contests, only for the bullpen or his fellow starters to bail him out. But because Snell is pitching in Game 1, and could end up pitching as many as two more games, depending on how the series shakes out, he has a chance to sign his signature on this Dodgers World Series in a way no pitcher did last season. From setting the tone, to pitching LA out of jams, if Snell can turn in another all-timer in Game 1 against the Blue Jays, it could play a major part in defining the entire series for the better.
