New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole throws against the Cleveland Guardians during the … [+]
The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers will square off in the World Series tomorrow night. It’s a dream matchup for MLB featuring the two largest media markets and fanbases. It’s also the perfect marriage of nostalgia—this is the 12th Fall Classic battle between the Yankees and Dodgers—and the present day, as both clubs led their respective leagues in wins this season.
Mickey Mantle and Jackie Robinson can’t turn the tide in this year’s series, but Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, and Juan Soto certainly can. For the first time in history, the three best hitters in MLB will all play in the World Series. So will three more former MVPs in Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Giancarlo Stanton.
Neutralizing lineups loaded with future Hall of Famers will be a tall order for two pitching staffs that have been overextended to different degrees this postseason. Pitching isn’t the strength for either squad, and whichever club gets the best showing from their starters will most likely take home the trophy. Here’s a preview of their expected starters for the entire series.
Games One and Five
The two aces will take the mound in the series opener, then reprise their matchup in Game Five if needed. The Yankees will send out Gerrit Cole, the most accomplished pitcher on either team in this series (Clayton Kershaw is injured). The six-time All-Star won the Cy Young Award in 2023, but arm soreness postponed his 2024 debut until June 19.
Cole’s 3.41 ERA over 17 starts was still excellent, but below the standard of his 3.18 career mark. His 25.4% strikeout rate was also uncharacteristically low while still surpassing the MLB average. In three postseason starts so far this year, he has allowed seven runs (six earned) in 16 1/3 innings with 19 hits and six walks—far from his best work.
The Dodgers will give the ball to midseason acquisition Jack Flaherty. They snagged him from the Detroit Tigers on July 30 for prospects Thayron Liranzo and Trey Sweeney. The deal was inadvertently facilitated by the Yankees, who sent Sweeney to Los Angeles in a previous trade.
Over the full season, Flaherty compiled a sterling 3.17 ERA over 28 starts with 194 strikeouts in 162 innings, but his 10 starts with the Dodgers weren’t as exemplary as the previous 18 for the Tigers. He allowed more hits and walks on a rate basis and surrendered 9 home runs in 55 1/3 innings for his new club. Like Cole, he has had two subpar starts and one good one in the playoffs, allowing a total of 12 runs in 15 1/3 innings.
Games Two and Six
Left-hander Carlos Rodón will be the second starter for New York. He has rebounded nicely this season after a disastrous beginning to his six-year, $162 million contract, which began with a 6.85 ERA last season. He brought that ERA down to 3.96 this year while starting 32 games and striking out 195 batters. His propensity for the long ball was a concern all season, as he gave up 31 of them.
His lone Division Series outing was a disaster, but he was much better in two Championship Series appearances. In total, he has thrown 14 1/3 innings this postseason with seven earned runs and two home runs on his ledger, but he racked up 22 strikeouts with only one walk.
The Dodgers outbid the Yankees and everyone else for Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s services last winter, signing him from Japan on a 12-year, $325 million contract. He lived up to expectations with a 3.00 ERA and 28.5% strikeout rate, but an injury kept him out of action from June 15 to September 10. He averaged exactly five innings per appearance over 18 starts, so he was hardly an innings-eater.
Yamamoto hasn’t been at his best this postseason, giving up seven runs in 12 1/3 innings over three starts, but five of those runs were plated by the Padres in his Division Series start. He hasn’t thrown more than 73 pitches in a game this October and hasn’t surpassed 79 pitches since June 7—when he threw seven shutout innings at Yankee Stadium. He also hasn’t pitched on less than five days rest, and Games Two and Six have only four off days between them. Manager Dave Roberts could opt to save him for Game Seven instead.
Games Three and Seven
The Yankees have a clear advantage when the series heads to Game Three, and not just because they’ll be playing at home. Clarke Schmidt was superb over 16 starts this year, posting a 2.85 ERA despite missing action from May 26 to September 7. Over 85 1/3 innings, he allowed only 71 hits and eight homers.
Schmidt started the third game against both the Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Guardians in the Division Series and Championship Series. In both contests, he lasted exactly 4 2/3 innings with two runs given up.
The Dodgers will most likely give the ball the Walker Buehler. After missing the 2023 season with his second Tommy John surgery, his stuff and command weren’t as crisp this year. He was knocked around in the regular season, putting up a 5.38 ERA with 89 hits, 28 walks, and 16 home runs in only 75 1/3 innings.
His fortunes didn’t improve in the Division Series, as the Padres scored six runs off him in five innings, but his Championship Series start against the New York Mets was his best game of the year. He struck out six over four shutout innings with only three hits, two walks, and hit batter.
Game Four
For the Yankees, Rookie of the Year candidate Luis Gil will start Game Four. He put up a 3.50 ERA over 29 starts and 151 2/3 innings in a strong return from Tommy John surgery. Even though he led MLB with 77 walks, his 6.2 hits per nine innings would’ve placed second in the American League if he had enough innings to qualify.
He has made only one postseason appearance so far, working in Game Four of the Championship Series. He was rusty on 19 days of rest, giving up three hits, three walks, and two runs to Cleveland over four innings.
The Dodgers don’t really have a Game Four starter at all. They’ll use a bullpen game, much like they did in the clinching Game Six of the Championship Series. Michael Kopech started that day, but he’s a true reliever and he only worked one inning. He was the first of seven pitchers to parade through the Mets lineup, giving up five runs in a 10-5 victory.
