By Fabian Ardaya, Chris Kirschner and Eno Sarris
It’s Yankees versus Dodgers in October. ‘Nuff said.
Our writers preview a World Series matchup between two of baseball’s most storied franchises, with no shortage of star power and storylines.
Game times
Game 1: Yankees at Dodgers, Friday, Oct. 25, 8:08 p.m. ET, Fubo, Fox
Game 2: Yankees at Dodgers, Saturday, Oct. 26, 8:08 p.m. ET, Fubo, Fox
Game 3: Dodgers at Yankees, Monday, Oct. 28, 8:08 p.m. ET, Fubo, Fox
Game 4: Dodgers at Yankees, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 8:08 p.m. ET, Fubo, Fox
Game 5: Dodgers at Yankees, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 8:08 p.m. ET, Fubo, Fox (if necessary)
Game 6: Yankees at Dodgers, Friday, Nov. 1, 8:08 p.m. ET, Fubo, Fox (if necessary)
Game 7: Yankees at Dodgers, Saturday, Nov. 2, 8:08 p.m. ET, Fubo, Fox (if necessary)
Pitching matchups
In a matchup of behemoths, one that features maybe the two best regular-season teams (and two of the richest), it might be surprising to say that this World Series probably won’t be about the arms. But research has shown that offense might be the most important postseason strength a team can have, and these two pitching staffs weren’t top-five regular-season units by any measure.
These are two of the best offenses in baseball pitted against two pitching staffs that are just trying to find ways to make things work. On New York’s side, there’s some good news in the rotation, at least. Gerrit Cole is showing his best velocity of the season, if not his vintage command. Carlos Rodón has top-shelf stuff, and suddenly looks like Andy Pettitte out there after a session with the legendary Yankees lefty. Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil represent more depth than the Dodgers have in this department.
In the Yankees’ bullpen, Tommy Kahnle’s all-changeup approach is working, Clay Holmes has been good if not great, and Luke Weaver and his revamped arsenal have been (mostly) awesome. Funky Jake Cousins has been walking or striking out everyone, and could end up being a wild card.
That bullpen comes up a little short in comparison to a Dodger ’pen that has shown the depth they featured in the regular season, when they had 15 relievers with above-average stuff. Daniel Hudson, Anthony Banda, Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia have combined to throw 32 postseason innings with only three earned runs allowed — and all of those runs came in Game 6 of the NLCS, by which point the Mets had seen their stuff repeatedly in the series.
Jack Flaherty’s velocity was down in his last two starts. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler had good stuff in their last starts, but the conditions might have been ideal for them. How many times can they face the middle of the Yankees’ lineup before they give way to the bullpen? And how many times will those great hitters in pinstripes face the Dodgers ’pen before they figure them out?
It’s a race to 108 outs in four wins. The longer this series goes, the more it favors the better lineup — because those hitters will get multiple looks at every starter and every reliever on the other side. That means that bulk still matters. As these two pitching staffs lurch their way to the end, the Yankees have better bulk options and a slight edge on the mound. — Sarris
Why the Dodgers will win
Their offense is dynamic and just contributed to the fourth-highest run differential in a postseason series, with the type of patience to strain even the deepest of starting staffs, and plenty of thump from Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts all the way down to Max Muncy, Will Smith and NLCS MVP Tommy Edman (the latter two combined to drive in six runs in the NLCS clincher on Sunday). Their injuries have certainly taken a toll: It’s hard to imagine how different this path would have looked for the Dodgers if Tyler Glasnow or Gavin Stone or Clayton Kershaw or Dustin May or any number of their injured starting pitchers were available during this postseason. But they’ve managed to survive nonetheless, with a dominant (if heavily used) bullpen that has gotten magnificent seasons out of two established veterans, Blake Treinen and Daniel Hudson, whom they’re paying a combined $3 million this year.
The hope, as well, is that five days off between the end of the NLCS and the start of the World Series will allow the Dodgers to get more out of Freddie Freeman, who has played through a badly sprained right ankle in October. — Ardaya
Why the Yankees will win
The Yankees are playing their most complete baseball of the season in October.
After the bullpen was their biggest weakness for the majority of the regular season, it developed into a strength starting in mid-September and carrying through October. Kahnle has yet to allow a run in six appearances; Weaver has 12 strikeouts in eight appearances; and Tim Hill has emerged as a high-leverage reliever who could potentially neutralize Los Angeles’ left-handed hitters, namely Ohtani. They might also get starting pitcher Nestor Cortes, who has missed the first two rounds of the playoffs with a flexor strain, to join them in the bullpen for the World Series.
There’s immense star talent in this Series, and Juan Soto has lived up to expectations. He hit the go-ahead home run in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the ALCS to send the Yankees to the World Series. Through nine postseason games, Soto has a 203 wRC+. The lineup as a whole has been dangerous, even if Aaron Judge hasn’t performed to his usual level yet. Soto and Gleyber Torres have set the tone at the top of the lineup, as they’ve made only three outs combined in the first inning of the Yankees’ nine October games.
If those two continue producing, along with Giancarlo Stanton, and Judge can break through, the Yankees will be a difficult matchup for the Dodgers. — Kirschner