Top World Series MVP candidates from Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are one game away from winning the World Series.
On Friday (and potentially Saturday for a winner-take-all Game 7), the Blue Jays head to the Rogers Centre with a chance to clinch their first title since 1993.
One common theme about this year’s team has been how close they are not only as teammates, but as friends, even picking up the “Glue Jays” nickname internally.
But while they might be a team made up of hardworking guys who aren’t too concerned about individual recognition, Major League Baseball will still award a World Series MVP at the end of it all to a player from either the Dodgers or the Blue Jays.
If the Blue Jays win it all on Friday in a relatively smooth game (i.e. low scoring and no all-time hitting or pitching performances), the trophy appears to be Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s to lose. With eight hits, two home runs, and six runs scored, Guerrero has been the engine that’s powered Toronto’s offence so far.
The Blue Jays’ 22-year-old pitcher, Trey Yesavage, put on an all-time show in Game 5 on Wednesday night, setting a rookie World Series record for strikeouts, with 12. He might be the front-runner if he’d picked up a Game 1 victory, but he went just four innings in an eventual blowout victory for Toronto, where Seranthony Dominguez picked up the decision.
Toronto’s also got key contributions from Addison Barger and Alejandro Kirk, doling out massive home runs of their own.
But they’ve still got one more game to win before anyone on the roster can call themselves a World Series MVP.
If the Dodgers come to Toronto and take two games on the road, well, one can reasonably expect one of two players to take it: Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto. After pitching a complete game gem in Game 2, Yamamoto is lined up as L.A.’s Game 6 starter for Friday night.
Guerrero Jr. picked up the American League Championship Series MVP, while Ohtani did the same in the National League.
The latest odds from FanDuel give four different Blue Jays and two Dodgers players a +6500 or better shot at winning it all.
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr., -195
- Shohei Ohtani, +250
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto, +1300
- Alejandro Kirk, +2200
- Addison Barger, +2700
- Trey Yesavage, +6500
The final vote is tallied in combination with fan voting combined with a media vote, which can be done via MLB.com starting in the sixth inning of a potential clinching game.
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