It’s hard to believe that four postseason series are already over, and four teams have been eliminated, but the Major League Baseball playoffs continue this afternoon with the start of the American League and National League Division Series.
Here are eight international players to watch, one from each team still alive, in the second round of the 2025 MLB Playoffs.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., 2B, New York Yankees – Chisholm was benched for the Wild Card Series opener against Boston but his mad dash home in Game 2 was a moment Yankees fans won’t soon forget. He’s too valuable to be in a bench role and proved it that night. While he was just 2-for-8 in the Wild Card Series, his solid defensive play made up for his mild struggles at the plate.
Alejandro Kirk, C, Toronto Blue Jays – Nicknamed Captain Kirk, the Jays’ Mexico-born catcher had a .282/.348/.421 slash line with 15 homers and 76 RBIs on his way to the second All-Star nod of his young career. While Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette may put up bigger numbers, Kirk is the heart and soul of a team that could get Toronto back to the World Series for the first time in 32 years.
Javier Baez, 2B, Detroit Tigers – Not to recycle another player, who, like Chisholm, I listed in the Wild Card Series International Players to Watch, but Baez had a terrific series in the Tigers’ three-game win against Cleveland, going 5-for-11 with a run scored batting near the bottom of the lineup. He’s not going to move up in the order, but when the guys at the bottom are hitting, that’s a good sign.
Julio Rodriguez, CF, Seattle Mariners – At just 24 years of age, Rodriguez has blossomed into a bona fide Major League star after winning the American League Rookie of the Year in 2022. He reached base at a .474 clip this year, equalled his career-high for homers with 32, and drove in 95 runs. He’s one of the reasons the Mariners got a bye to the Division Series, and their continued success depends on his bat staying hot.
Shota Imanaga, SP, Chicago Cubs – Imanaga started Game 2 of the Wild Card Series and lasted four innings, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks before Craig Counsell lifted him. Imanaga has struggled a bit late in the season, and the Cubbies haven’t given him much run support, but a quality start (six innings pitched with three or fewer runs allowed) in the Division Series will make those tough outings in the regular season fade away.
Jackson Chourio, CF, Milwaukee Brewers – After posting nearly identical numbers to his rookie season, Venezuela-born Chourio and the Brewers return to the postseason with unfinished business after being bounced last fall by the New York Mets in Bob Uecker’s final season behind the mic. If the Brewers can get production from Chourio, they could be headed to the NLCS for just the second time in franchise history.
Shohei Ohtani, SP/DH, Los Angeles Dodgers – Who else? There are considerations when it comes to putting Ohtani on the mound, because the Dodgers need his bat in the lineup, but nonetheless Dave Roberts has announced Ohtani as the Game 1 starter for the NLDS. He hit two homers in the sweep of the Cincinnati Reds in the Wild Card Series, and while the Dodgers don’t live and die by his production the way the Angels did when he played in Anaheim, there’s no bigger face in Major League Baseball today. Every postseason game is another opportunity for Ohtani to etch his name into postseason lore.
Cristopher Sanchez, SP, Philadelphia Phillies – Sanchez, from La Romana, Dominican Republic, put up one of the best seasons by a starting pitcher in MLB history this year, accumulating 8.0 bWAR, the highest wins above replacement in the Major Leagues, after throwing 202 innings over 32 starts with a 2.50 ERA and a 1.064 WHIP and recording 212 strikeouts against just 44 walks. He finished 10th in the National League Cy Young Award balloting last year and established himself as one of the NL’s aces. The Phillies will probably only get to put him out there once in the NLDS, but if he can set the tone, that might just be enough.
Photo: Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez smiles on the mound during a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
