The Toronto Blue Jays have defied expectations all season long.
Coming off a 74-win 2024 season, the Blue Jays authored one of the most stunning turnarounds in recent memory. That continued on Monday night, as Toronto punched its ticket to the World Series with a dramatic Game 7 win over the Seattle Mariners in the American League Championship Series.
Despite coming into the series as the higher seed, the Blue Jays found themselves staring down daunting 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to a strong Mariners team over the course of the seven-game set.
But as has been the case all year in Toronto, you just can’t count the Blue Jays out.
In completing their ALCS comeback against the Mariners, the Blue Jays had a number of players step up to turn their Fall Classic dreams into a reality. Whether it was a throwback Mad Max Scherzer performance or a legacy-defining George Springer home run, Toronto had some of its most impressive showings of 2025 with its back against the wall in the ALCS.
Now, the Blue Jays’ attention will turn to the NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who will arrive at Rogers Centre for Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, Sportsnet, Sportsnet+).
But in the meantime, here’s a look at what American MLB analysts are saying about the Blue Jays as the dust settles and the champagne dries on their Game 7 victory.
The Athletic — Gritting through the pain, George Springer gets his signature Blue Jays moment
The lasting image of Toronto’s ALCS win will, of course, be Springer’s go-ahead blast. It’s a homer that will be on replay for decades across the city, as the Blue Jays’ hobbled designated hitter flipped a two-run deficit into a one-run lead, sending the Rogers Centre faithful into a frenzy.
The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal tackled what the signature moment meant for Toronto’s $150 million man.
“Sitting on a couch in the visiting clubhouse after Game 5, Toronto Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins offered George Springer words of inspiration.
“’You’ve got a Kirk Gibson moment coming,’ Popkins said. ‘You’re a legend. It’s your time….’
“Last Friday night in Seattle, with his right knee throbbing, Springer was in no position to act on Popkins’ vision. It was fantasy to think that just three days later, he would electrify a ballpark, a city and a country with a home run that was a little bit Gibson, a little bit Joe Carter and every bit heart and soul….
“Springer’s homer, coming as it did in Game 7 of the ALCS, was not the same as Gibson’s, a pinch-hit, two-run walk-off shot that decided Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. It also was not the same as Carter’s three-run, walk-off blast that ended Game 6 of the 1993 World Series, giving the Jays back-to-back titles.
“Without question, though, the homer will stand as one of the biggest in Jays history, a Carter-like moment for a new generation of fans. And to think, Popkins envisioned it was possible almost immediately after Springer was injured, thought the 12-year veteran was capable of something that gutsy, that dramatic, that grand.”
Fox Sports MLB — Alex Rodriguez tees up Blue Jays-Dodgers World Series
The panel at Fox Sports wasted little time after Toronto’s win to start looking ahead to the Fall Classic, giving both sides credit for their strong post-season runs.
“It should be a dream World Series,” Alex Rodriguez said.
“Look, you have the best team on the planet with the Dodgers, and this is the best and healthiest this team has had, I believe in the last eight, nine years. This is the best they’ve been.
“(They) have the best athlete in the world in Shohei Ohtani, and the Blue Jays have the best hitter in the game in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. It’s impossible not to like him. You just want to hug him. He’s such a good kid, and you see him growing right in front of our eyes.
“This is going to be a much better series than people are giving it credit for.”
The three-time MVP didn’t hold expectations for a classic series there.
“For the casual fan out there, I don’t think they understand how balanced and how good Toronto is.
“I think everyone understands the Dodgers’ greatness, because they’ve been at this level for the past 10 years as a dominant franchise in the sport — with the dominant player in Shohei Ohtani.
“This is not David vs Goliath. This is truly Goliath vs Goliath.
“And don’t think Toronto isn’t a big market. They have 41 million people in Canada — that’s their fanbase, and they watch, and they watch closely.”
Seattle Times — ALCS: Mariners’ Dan Wilson faces scrutiny for Game 7 bullpen usage
Over in Seattle, fans were left questioning why manager Dan Wilson chose Eduard Bazardo to face Springer in the seventh inning rather than turning to star closer Andres Muñoz.
Bazardo had an excellent season for the Mariners, pitching to a 2.52 ERA in 78.2 innings, but the right-hander had been worked heavily in the playoffs and doesn’t have the track record or pure stuff that Muñoz brings to the table.
It’s a topic that the Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish explored on Monday night.
“Wilson, who has received a healthy amount of criticism from fans about his in-game strategy and decision-making process during the regular season and particularly in the playoffs, was asked a series of questions post-game to try and ascertain why he didn’t use his best leverage reliever in the most difficult situation. Like many of his answers throughout the season, there wasn’t much detail or information in his justification, mostly vague baseball talk.
“‘You make your decisions, and sometimes you have to live and die with it,” Wilson said.
“Bryan had given us such a good outing there and it was time to turn it over, we thought, to our leverage guys that are used in those situations,” Wilson said. “That’s what went into that decision.
“Woo had struck out Springer in his previous at-bat, but Wilson wanted a different look, even though Bazardo had faced him essentially 24 hours earlier.
“They went at ‘George’ with a quality reliever, but not their best reliever. It was the fourth time Bazardo was facing the Blue Jays in the ALCS. It was Springer’s third time facing him. Meanwhile, Muñoz hadn’t pitched to Springer in the post-season or in the regular season. That would’ve certainly been a different look.“
USA Today — Blue Jays hero Joe Carter says George Springer homer was ‘poetic justice’
If you’re curious where Joe Carter was as the biggest game in Blue Jays history since Game 6 of the 1993 World Series unfolded, USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale has you covered. Nightengale secured an exclusive interview with Toronto’s walk-off hero following Monday’s victory.
“Joe Carter, the man who hit the biggest home run in Toronto Blue Jays history, sat in his home theatre and watched history repeat itself more than three decades later.
“It was like an out-of-body experience, watching a near replay of himself, circling the bases, jumping up and down after hitting the game-winning home run in the 1993 World Series that made him a Canadian national hero...
“Carter screamed in his house, startling his wife and daughter who were pacing upstairs, with his whole neighbourhood in Leawood, Kan., hearing the jubilation.
“‘This is crazy, this is so crazy,’ Carter told USA TODAY Sports. ‘My heart was beating 10,000 beats a second, and I’m not even playing. It’s hard on a 65-year-old man.’”
“The moment Springer’s ball landed into the left-field seats, Carter knew exactly what he’s going to say to Springer when he sees him before Game 1 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday.
“Welcome to the three-run home run club!“
