It's time for the World Series. There has been plenty of build up, what with a few days between Game 7 of the ALCS and Game 1 of the World Series. Many think the Dodgers will repeat as champions, but that is no guarantee, especially with the Blue Jays having home-field advantage. That means Game 1 is in Toronto, and it starts at 8 p.m. ET.
We know the starting pitchers will be Blake Snell and Kevin Gausman, and we know the Dodgers have been riding their starters this postseason. That matchup impacts my MLB DFS decisions, of course. For DFS purposes, you get $50,000 in salary for six players. One is your Captain, who earns you 1.5 times the points but at an elevated salary. Dodgers-Blue Jays is ready to get rolling! Here is the lineup I ended up liking.
Captain
Mookie Betts, LAD at TOR ($12,900): With how Snell has pitched this postseason, I didn't want my Captain to be a Blue Jay. Gausman is a righty, but none of the Dodgers' lefties have hit particularly well across the postseason (this is where I remind you Shohei Ohtani has hit .220). Fortunately, Gausman has been slightly less impressive against righties the last two seasons anyway. Betts had a rough regular season by his standards, but he's hit .293 with four doubles and a triple in the playoffs, so I've opted to make him my Captain.
Utility
Vladimir Guerrero, TOR vs. LAD ($9,400): I didn't want a Blue Jay as my Captain, but I knew I was going to roster Guerrero. It's well-established he's been the best hitter this postseason, as he has an 1.440 OPS with 12 RBI and 11 runs scored. While Snell has been hot, he is a lefty, and Guerrero has an OPS hovering around .950 against lefties over the last two seasons.
Freddie Freeman, LAD at TOR ($9,000): Again, I didn't opt for Freeman as my Captain because the lefty hasn't been his usual self. He's not accustomed to hitting .231, which is what he's done this postseason, but his four doubles and his one homer do look familiar. Freeman hit .295 this season, and he's a career .300 hitter. If he is able to hit a couple doubles in this game, I won't be surprised.
Max Muncy, LAD at TOR ($7,000): At this salary, Muncy's power upside against righties is worth a shot. Since 2023, Gausman has allowed 1.1 homers per nine innings at home. That's not a lot, but this is a guy who over the last five seasons has allowed under one homer per nine every single year. In that same three-season time span, Muncy has slugged .515 against righties. One homer from the southpaw would go a long way for a DFS lineup.
Tommy Edman, LAD at TOR ($6,000): Edman hasn't been as big a secondary contributor as Enrique Hernandez, but Edman is a switch-hitter, which is nice in the postseason. Additionally, he's provided more power, as he's hit two homers and slugged .486. In single-game DFS contests in the postseason every slight things can push a player over the edge in terms of getting on a roster. That goes double once you get down to rounding out said roster with lower-salary players.
Ernie Clement, TOR vs. LAD ($5,400): I wasn't going to go with just one Blue Jay and a bunch of Dodgers. That kind of lopsided roster is always a risk in single-game contests and especially so in a World Series game. This is no major mismatch. Clement has been surprisingly good in this postseason, as he has an 1.064 OPS. Beyond that, though, he had the kind of splits this season that you usually see from a lefty. While he struggled with his fellow righties, Clement had a .900 OPS versus southpaw pitchers.
