Why 2025 World Series Could See The Return Of Three Pitching Relics

Excellence achieved by a starting pitcher in the World Series is a vision of beauty just like the finest works of art in a museum. Instead of admiring the artistry of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Pablo Picasso or Vincent van Gogh, the World Series has served as Major League Baseball’s Louvre as evident in magnificent performances from the likes of Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Don Larsen and Christy Mathewson. Brilliance in the World Series can solidify a starting pitcher’s reputation as a hero for generations and even grant absolution for blemishes in their career. No one ever discusses Don Larsen’s 81-91 career record over 14 major league seasons or that he lost 21 ball games in 1954, but he will always be remembered for perfection on October 8, 1956, pitching for the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game Five of the World Series. There is an inkling of hope the 2025 World Series will produce career-defining moments for starting pitchers through complete games, shutouts and double-digit strikeout performances as they have become relics in the modern game.

World Series And New Starting Pitcher Reality

Pitch counts, analytics and the fear of facing a lineup for the third time around a batting order have changed how major league ball clubs utilize starting pitchers. Amid a proliferation of ulnar collateral ligament injuries and triple-digit velocities, gone are the days of complete games. In 2,430 ball games during the 2025 regular season, Baseball-Reference states there were 29 complete games thrown by 26 starting pitchers with 13 of them being complete game shutouts. Out of the 13 complete game shutouts, only three starting pitchers also struck out double-digit batters. A complete game shutout with double-digit strikeouts is the holy trinity when it comes to an elite performance for a starting pitcher in the World Series.

World Series And Holy Trinity For Starting Pitchers

The last starting pitcher in World Series history who achieved the holy trinity was Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. The left-handed Johnson struck out 11 New York Yankees over 111 pitches in Game Two of the 2001 World Series while leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-0 victory according to Baseball-Reference. In total, 10 starting pitchers have thrown a complete game shutout while striking out double-digit batters in a World Series ball game. Hall of Famer and left-handed pitching icon of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sandy Koufax, is the only one who has achieved this feat twice and it occurred during the 1965 World Series versus the Minnesota Twins in Games Five and Seven.

It has been a decade since fans have seen a complete game thrown in the World Series. In Game Two of the 2015 World Series, right-handed pitcher Johnny Cueto of the Kansas City Royals threw 122 pitches in a 7-1 victory versus the New York Mets. According to Baseball-Reference, there have been 421 complete games thrown in World Series history dating back to 1903, but only five have occurred in the 21st century. Three of the five were complete game shutouts. Besides the previously mentioned Randy Johnson, left-handed pitcher Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants (2014) and right-handed pitcher Josh Beckett of the Florida Marlins (2003) also threw complete game shutouts in the World Series during the 21st century.

World Series And Signature Moment For Blake Snell

Success for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2025 World Series begins with two starting pitchers. Left-handed Blake Snell is more than ready for his signature World Series moment. In three starts across the National League Wild Card, Division and Championship Series, Snell has posted a 3-0 record with a 0.86 earned run average over 21 innings while striking out 28 batters. In Game One of the 2025 National League Championship Series versus the Milwaukee Brewers, Snell threw a 103-pitch masterpiece over eight innings while only surrendering one hit and striking out 10 batters in a 3-0 victory. According to OptaSTATS, the 32-year-old Snell is the first pitcher to face the minimum through eight innings of a postseason ball game since Don Larsen’s 1956 perfect game.

A two-time Cy Young Award winner, Snell wants to exorcise the demons that still linger from his Game Six start in the 2020 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays. Through no fault of his own, Snell was removed from the ball game after striking out nine batters over 5.1 innings while using only 73 pitches. The Tampa Bay Rays were leading 1-0 at the time with one out and a runner on first base. Everything unraveled for the Tampa Bay Rays after Snell’s departure and the Los Angeles Dodgers went on to win the ball game by a score of 3-1 and clinched their seventh World Series title in franchise history.

Right-handed starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been the embodiment of an elite ace all season for the Los Angeles Dodgers courtesy of a 2.49 earned run average over 30 starts while striking out 201 batters in 173.2 innings. After two mediocre starts in the 2025 National League Wild Card and Division Series, Yamamoto returned to form against the Milwaukee Brewers in Game Two of the 2025 National League Championship Series. In a complete game victory by the score of 5-1, Yamamoto surrendered three hits while striking out seven batters over 111 pitches.

Snell and Yamamoto are expected to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a competitive advantage on the pitcher’s mound in Games One and Two of the 2025 World Series in Toronto’s Rogers Centre. In 10 ball games across three rounds of postseason competition, four starting pitchers for the Los Angeles Dodgers have combined to post a 1.40 earned run average over 64.1 innings while striking out 81 batters according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The expectation is for Snell and Yamamoto to pitch deep into Games One and Two given how the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bullpen is considered a weakness and will be needed to complement right-handed pitchers Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani in Games Three and Four. Neither Glasnow nor Ohtani has pitched into the seventh inning or surpassed 100 pitches as a starter this postseason. The most prominent name on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2025 World Series roster when it comes to bullpen pitchers is left-hander Clayton Kershaw and it will be interesting to see how manager Dave Roberts uses the future first-ballot Hall of Famer in his final days as a major league ball player with retirement on the horizon.

The beauty of a starting pitcher can be found at the intersection of art and science, especially during the World Series. While a complete game shutout with double-digit strikeouts has become a World Series relic in the 20th century, don’t be surprised if Blake Snell or Yoshinobu Yamamoto make an honest attempt at resurrecting the complete game. The last time a Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher threw a complete game in the World Series was 1988 when right-handed pitcher Orel Hershiser accomplished this feat in Games Two and Five while winning the National League Championship Series and World Series Most Valuable Player Awards. In what is expected to be a World Series that will generate serious global interest, it would be great if the holy trinity for a starting pitcher can make an appearance so that everyone can appreciate its mastery and artistry.