John Schneider has lived and died by the 1-through-26 philosophy with his team this season.

Last night, that mindset was displayed at Dodger Stadium in the most literal sense, with just three players from the Toronto’s World Series roster failing to appear in the 18-inning 6-5 loss to Los Angeles.

Now, the Blue Jays are trailing 2-1 in the series, and they’re needing a bounce back on a quick turnaround to even things back up.

That’s where prized trade deadline acquisition Shane Bieber steps in, set to make his first World Series appearance of his career. Bieber has pitched in three playoff games this postseason including the do-or-die Game 7 last week against the Mariners. In those outings, Bieber has allowed 16 hits and six earned runs over 12 1/3 innings, striking out 15 and walking only three hitters.

The ask has probably never been as big for Bieber to eat up some innings tonight. Every bullpen arm that Toronto carried on their World Series roster pitched last night, but Schneider clarified earlier that every arm is available with the exception of Eric Lauer, who threw 68 pitches last night. That marked the most pitches Lauer had thrown in an outing since August 27th against the Twins.

Bieber was still rehabbing back in early August when these two teams met, so all of his experience against these Dodgers hitters have come during his 2023 campaign or prior. Teoscar Hernández and Shohei Ohtani are the only two batters who have seen Bieber in more than 10 at-bats, but they both haven’t yielded much success with 2-for-15 and 2-for-13 marks, respectively.

Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are a combined 2-for-13 against him, but both of those hits represent one home run each.

Cooling down Ohtani and Hernández will be a tough task for Bieber tonight; Ohtani is coming off a 4-for-4 night with two homers, two doubles, and five walks, while Hernández recorded four hits last night after starting the World Series hitless in seven at-bats.

As if Ohtani hadn’t done enough already, he’s the starting pitcher tonight for the Dodgers.

The two appearances he’s made this month are the first postseason pitching outings he’s posted in his career, and he’s given L.A. quality starts in them both. Referring to his most recent start as “quality” would be shortchanging it, however, as Ohtani struck out 10 batters over six scoreless innings eleven days ago against the Brewers while also hitting three home runs.

Ohtani has faced the Blue Jays three times in his career as a pitcher. He’s posted a solid 3.32 ERA with 25 K’s and 5 walks in those starts, including a 9-strikeout performance over seven shutout innings in a duel with Alek Manoah in August of 2022.

Of the Blue Jays hitters who have seen him the most, all of them have previous ties to the AL West where Ohtani spent the first six years of his career. One of those is George Springer, who is 7-for-15 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs against Ohtani. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3-for-8) and Bo Bichette (2-for-5) have extra-base hits against him in their careers, with Guerrero hitting a home run back in 2022.

Ohtani will likely be in a similar boat as Bieber when it comes to his team needing a lengthy start. They used all nine of their bullpen arms last night, with four of them throwing less than 20 pitches. As a unit, the Dodgers’ bullpen allowed just one earned run last night, creating an encouraging sign for a bullpen that had struggled in the postseason.

After leaving last night’s game with right side discomfort, Springer will be out of tonight’s starting lineup. Schneider had told the media earlier today that his situation was “hour to hour“, and it is unclear on if Springer could potentially enter the game as a pinch hitter.

With Springer out, the usual top half of the order moves up one spot, including Bichette, who gets a night off of his feet and will serve as the designated hitter. Isiah Kiner-Falefa will replace Bichette at second base.

Location: Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles, CA

First Pitch: 8:00 PM EST

Watch/Listen: FOX, Sportsnet / ESPN Radio, Sportsnet 590 The Fan

Toronto Blue Jays – Shane Bieber: 1-0 record, 4.38 ERA, 12 1/3 IP, 15 SO, 3 BB

Los Angeles Dodgers – Shohei Ohtani: 2-0 record, 2.25 ERA, 12 IP, 19 SO, 4 BB