The Los Angeles Dodgers have returned to the World Series for the fifth time since 2017 after finishing their season with 93 wins. They’ve posted the best postseason record by winning nine of their last games, mostly because of their best-ever rotation, which posted a 1.40 ERA, and because they protected them from their biggest weaknesses, like a shaky bullpen.

So, before facing the Toronto Blue Jays for their back-to-back World Series repeat, the Dodgers’ Manager announced his starting pitchers for the first two games in Toronto. Dodgers Nation confirmed the news on X. They posted, “BREAKING: Blake Snell will start World Series Game 1 for the Dodgers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is starting Game 2.”

Blake Snell, who will get the ball in Game 1 on Friday night, is the most dominant pitcher in baseball this entire October. Snell has a perfect 3-0 record with a 0.86 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 21 innings.

In his last start in the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers, he pitched eight scoreless innings, where he allowed just one hit while striking out ten batters. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who will follow him in Game 2, had a fantastic regular season, earning an All-Star appearance.

The 27-year-old ace who finished the regular season with a 2.49 ERA and 201 strikeouts has been just as sharp in the playoffs, posting a 1.83 ERA. He pitched a complete playoff game for the first time in Dodgers history since 2004, while allowing just 3 hits in his last outings in the NLCS against the Brewers.

That’s why Manager Dave Roberts slated them for their first two game for building the momentum early in the series by winning the first two games of the series.

Snell and Yamamoto are a scary 1-2 punch. But the Dodgers’ pitching dominance does not end there.

Their rotation depth is simply on another level this season

Dave Roberts will almost certainly hand the ball to Tyler Glasnow for Game 3. Glasnow is another vital arm in this historically great postseason rotation, who threw six scoreless innings against the Phillies in the NLDS Game 4 and allowed only one run over 5.2 innings, striking out eight Brewers in his last start.

After Glasnow comes Shohei Ohtani for Game 4. Ohtani has been excellent on the mound in his two playoff starts and has a 2-0 record with a 2.25 ERA. He has also piled up 19 strikeouts in just 12 innings. The long layoff before the World Series gives his arm plenty of rest, and he might even be available to pitch twice if the series goes long.

And his last game was one of the greatest playoff performances in history, when he single-handedly clinched the NLCS pennant against the Brewers. He pitched six shutout innings and struck out ten batters on the mound. And at the same time, he hit three towering home runs at the plate in the same game and won the NLCS MVP award.

But we can’t ignore that all this amazing starting pitching hides their biggest weakness. The Dodgers’ bullpen. The only bright spot in the bullpen is rookie Roki Sasaki. He moved to the closer role late in the season and has been great since then. He saved three of the Dodgers’ nine playoff victories with a 1.13 ERA. But the bridge to Sasaki has been shaky, as veterans like Blake Treinen have struggled.