Who Should Blue Jays Hope to Face in ALCS: Tigers or Mariners?

After beating the Yankees in four games, the Blue Jays will wait to see who they'll face in the next round.

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Toronto Blue Jays are advancing to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2016, following a 3-1 series win over the New York Yankees. The Blue Jays can return home as they await their next opponent.

On the other side of the bracket, the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners find themselves in a hard-fought series that has been pushed to five games. The series will be decided on Friday with the winner taking on Toronto.

As Blue Jays fans get to sit back and watch, the question becomes which team should they want to face?

How the Blue Jays Match Up with the Tigers

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jeff Hoffman (23) pitches during the ninth inning against the New York Yankees during game four of the ALDS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Yankee Stadium. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

In 2025, Toronto finished 4-3 against the Tigers during the regular season. In May, Detroit took two out of three before the Blue Jays won three out of four in late July. In those seven games, Toronto scored 35 runs with a .282 batting average and a .343 on-base percentage.

The Blue Jays have been on an offensive tear in October. Spearheaded by Vladimir Guerrero Jr and George Springer, they put consistent pressure on the Yankees pitching staff and were able to secure each win with a strong bullpen.

It's a complete opposite story for the Tigers. Outside of game four in the ALDS, their offense has struggled to generate runs and have leaned on timely hitting to pull out wins. Toronto is a low strikeout team while Detroit ranks in the top five in that category. That could prove to be a key advantage for the Blue Jays should these two teams square off.

There is also the element of facing Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. However, in a must-win game five, he will throw on Friday which means he likely wouldn't be ready until game three of the ALCS. I think the Blue Jays offense could fare well against the other Detroit starters and a slug fest favors Toronto all day.

How the Blue Jays Match Up with the Mariners

Toronto Blue Jays right fielder George Springer (4) hits an RBI sacrifice fly during the fifth inning against the New York Yankees during game four of the ALDS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Yankee Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Blue Jays faced the Mariners six times and won four of them during the regular season. They managed just 31 runs with a .295 batting average. However, the last time these teams played was on May 11th. The results of these games can be taken with a grain of salt.

Since then, Seattle has made trade deadline acquisitions to improve their offense and was the hottest team in baseball during the month of September. The Mariners starting pitching is also amongst the best, highlighted by arms such as Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby.

With an offense led by Cal Raleigh, Randy Arozarena, and Julio Rodriguez, Seattle's offense would put a lot more pressure on the Blue Jays arms.

With all that being said, the Blue Jays should be rooting for the Tigers to win. The Mariners have a better offense complimented by excellent pitching to finish off close games. Should Detroit advance, I don't think they would have enough offensive firepower to compete with Toronto.

Regardless, with the ALCS starting on Sunday, they'll get three days of rest which provides a huge advantage when it comes to pitching. They have the right pieces to advance to the World Series, but now they must wait to see who will try to stop them.

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