NEW YORK, NY – Kudos to the Mets for pulling off a great season with a ton of memorable moments. But alas, we’re moving on. It’s the Yankees and Dodgers in the World Series for the 14th time. It’s Ohtani and Judge; the presumptive MVPs. This is the first time the home run champs from each league will meet in the series since 1956, with Mickey Mantle and Duke Snyder – a Yankee and a Dodger. Let’s go. The Yankees go in as moderate underdogs, as the Dodgers were the best team in baseball. But the Yanks do have some things going for them and will need to take advantage if they want to take down the LA offensive juggernaut.
Lack of Lefties
One thing the Mets had going for them in a match-up against the Yankees was several competent lefties. The Yankees have a lot of left handed hitters in the lineup with Rizzo, Soto, Wells, Chisholm, and Verdugo, and have struggled against lefties all year. Cleveland lefty Matthew Boyd was the only starter who lasted five innings in the LCS, limiting the Yankees to one run in the Guardians only victory.
The Dodgers employed exactly one left-handed pitcher vs the Mets, reliever Anthony Banda.
Starting Pitching
It still matters, right? The Dodgers will likely employ only three starters again. First up will be John Flaherty, the deadline acquisition who almost ended up on the Yankees. Apparently there was a deal in place, but the Yankees backed out on medical concerns and LA got him instead. The other two are Yamamoto, the Japanese “rookie,” and Walker Buehler, the former ace who hasn’t returned to his pre-injury form.
But the Dodgers have excelled in bullpen games and won two of them vs the Mets. The seems like a tougher task with the Yanks, especially as so many of the relievers are righties. The Yankees took apart the Guardian’s heralded bullpen and will look to do the same here. Neither Yamamoto nor Buehler saw the 5th inning and the Dodgers will go to their pen at the first sign of trouble.
The Yankees will employ more tradition starters as their pen is not as deep. Though Nasty Nestor Cortez may return, which could be big.
Gerrit Cole is still an ace, and he’ll need to show up. Number two Carlos Rodon pitched well against Cleveland and will need to keep it up. Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil, both likely starting at Yankee Stadium, will need to produce quality outings and protect the bullpen.
If the Yanks have to go to the pen early, the advantage goes to LA. The Yanks don’t trust the back of their pen as much.
The “We Need More From” File
The Yankees like to wedge a lefty between Judge and Stanton to make it difficult for opposing teams to match up. For the second half of the season, it was Austin Wells, who excelled. But it has become painfully obvious this post season that the man can’t hit a high fastball. The secret is out, to the tune of a paltry 0.91 BA in the playoffs. Jazz Chisholm is the next option, but the Guardians neutralized him as well, with a steady diet of inside fastballs. Even his hits were jam shots that barely cleared the infield, and he has hit .147 in the playoffs. The Yankees are going to need more from those two.
The Yanks should consider starting Anthony Rizzo there. The broken fingers seem to be bothering him more in the field than at the plate. He’s not providing a lot of power, but he’s getting hits.
Aaron Judge
Luckily for Judge, Playoff Giancarlo has picked up the slack for him. Judge launched a huge 3-run oppo homer off Clase, and he still gets on base with walks, but he did not come through in too many big spots vs the Royals and Guardians. His plate discipline looks off, and he’s been chasing more than he did in the regular season. At other times, he looks too passive.
The Yanks can’t expect Soto and Stanton to keep carrying the load and need more from the MVP. The last time the big man played in Dodgers Stadium, he took out the wall with a great running catch. Unfortunately, he hurt his toe and that submarined the ‘23 season. Judge has wisely toned down the reckless play since then.
At this point, Soto is the more feared hitter. His series ending HR against Cleveland was an AB for the ages. I would not be surprised to see Soto intentionally walked ahead of Judge multiple times in this series. The big man has to make them pay.
Heavyweights
Anyway, it should be fun. There are no easy outs in the Dodgers’ lineup. Can the Yankees starters give them enough depth? Can the Yankees get to the Dodgers pen? Can the Yankees still get big outs from unheralded relievers like Jake Cousins? It’s a heavyweight tilt people, get your popcorn.
Let’s hear your World Series predictions. And swing by tomorrow for Angry Ward.
