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The Fall Classic. The World Series. The best week of the year. Whatever you want to call it, it has arrived.

We’ve got you covered with so much coverage to prepare for the World Series, as we did an in-depth preview on the Just Baseball Show and we’ll break it all down here.

There’s no other topics today. Maybe next week. It’s World Series time!!!

Full World Series Preview

We’re going to keep this preview straight to the point because the staff at Just Baseball has been hard at work putting together a ton of content.

The trio spent two hours on the JB Show discussing every single thing about this series, so I encourage you to go listen to each section linked below. Additionally, Leo Morgenstern wrote a full preview on the series and Peter Appel broke it down from a betting and positional lens, which you can read those below.

Lineup Comparison

While the Dodgers have the biggest names in baseball filing out their lineup, Toronto has actually been better all season and into the postseason on this side of the ball.

For Toronto, their lineup looks rather different in terms of positioning as we chose to slot in Bo Bichette at DH coming off injury. The alternative option here is George Springer staying at DH, Bichette sliding back into the infield, and Addison Barger playing right field. Regardless, these nine players will likely be starting every day.

Here’s how each team matches up and which player was selected as having the advantage on the Just Baseball Show:

Pitching Comparison

The lineup may make this look like a fairly even matchup, but this is where the Dodgers clear edge in the series really shines. Their rotation, when healthy, is better than any other and it may not be close.

Trey Yesavage developing into the Game One starter after an insane trajectory this season is huge, but the rest of the staff after him and Kevin Gausman is hard to fully trust heading into the series.

Here’s how each team matches up and which player was selected as having the advantage on the Just Baseball Show:

*Editor’s note: Alex Vesia has been ruled out for at least the first few games of the World Series due to a family emergency. Edgardo Henriquez and Will Klein were added to the Dodgers’ roster to replace Vesia and Ben Casparius.

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Predictions and X-Factors

At the end of our World Series Preview, each host picked who they believe will be the biggest X-Factors for this series and their official winner prediction.

When they’re all evidently wrong, feel free to @ and tag these bozos on social media!

Just about everyone is predicting the Dodgers to win given just how dominant their October has been thus far, but Toronto could always find some magic. As the old saying goes: “It’s baseball. Anything can happen.”

Here’s how they think the series will go and who will be the X-Factor:

Aram Leighton: Dodgers in 6 | Shane Bieber/Kevin Gausman

Jack McMullen: Dodgers in 6 | Bo Bichette and Right-Handed Relievers

Peter Appel: Dodgers in 5 | Blue Jays Bullpen and Shohei Ohtani

Not that any of you care…but Teoscar Hernandez is my X-Factor and WS MVP pick. We’ll see how that one ages.

Just Baseball Trivia of the Week

Our newsletter will have a trivia question every week to test and expand the baseball knowledge of our subscribers! The answer to the weekly trivia question will be at the bottom of the newsletter each week.

Who is the only player to take the final at-bat of more than one World Series since integration?

No multiple choice today…if you know this one, you have elite ball knowledge.

Other Headlines

📝 The second the offseason strikes, we’re a full go with free agency coverage. We’ll have our Top 25 MLB Free Agents Guide dropping and landing spot pieces for every top free agent. Check out our first landing spot piece on Pete Alonso!

👀 Japanese star Kazuma Okamoto will officially be posted this offseason. The 29-year-old corner infielder has 248 career NPB home runs, coming off a season in which he posted a 1.014 OPS across 69 games for the Yomiuri Giants.

😭 Two players are guaranteed to win a World Series ring this year…

Just Baseball Discord

We launched a Just Baseball community on Discord!

Our Discord channel is the ultimate baseball group chat while also providing exclusive access to Peter’s MLB best bets, Aram’s prospect content, giveaways, and direct connection to the entire Just Baseball staff.

Read all the details about our Discord community here.

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Trivia Answer: 1997 & 2004 Edgar Renteria

Renteria walked off first championship in Marlins history in 1997!

In 2004, he was the final out for the Cardinals as the Red Sox broke their 86-year drought and won the World Series.

Just Baseball Merch

Our newest line of merchandise features Adidas performance gear!

We have also restocked on all your favorites including our vintage World Series line, hats, hoodies, City Series line, spring line, and much more.

Check out the full collection of Just Baseball swag here!