A Yankees-Dodgers Blockbuster World Series Is Peak Baseball And After Many, Many Years We're Finally Getting It

The stage is set for Friday night. My soul is ready for one last rollercoaster. Yankees vs. Dodgers for all the marbles. Starting pitchers for Game 1 of the World Series have been announced: Gerrit Cole vs. Jack Flaherty. Rosters are being tinkered with and we'll know the official ones soon enough, but man it's really happening and it's almost here. Let's talk about it. 

First of all spare me those people who see these two teams matched up with everything on the line and say nobody wants this. Obviously if you're a Red Sox fan this is your hell. Mets as well for obvious reasons. Cleveland fans are miserable. But as fan of the game you have to appreciate how action packed that field is going to be with star power on Friday. Underdog stories are great, but when you get titans clashing it's fucking incredible. Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton in their first World Series ever. Juan Soto for the first time as a Yankee. Mookie Betts eyeing ring number 3. Gerrit Cole trying to capture his first. Yoshinobu Yamamoto in his debut season in the United States is going to be getting the ball in a World Series game. When you factor in the Asian market audience for this, it's really going to be biblical. 

An interesting factor to look at for this matchup is how rest is going to be involved here. Freddie Freeman was laboring throughout the NLCS with his bad ankle. He was essentially a corpse out there and nowhere near his usual self. Four days off his feet will definitely help get him back to a playable level. On the flip side, a guy like Anthony Rizzo will use these days off to rehab his broken fingers. He's been raking at the plate, but the defense was been very questionable. Nestor Cortes is going to be on the WS roster which helps give the Yankees not only a competent lefty, but also a deadly change of pace guy to throw in the middle of a game and fuck up your rhythm. He gave this quote about the risk in pitching with his injury which you have to respect. Dude is willing to leave it all out there and potentially wipe a year off his career if it means helping this team get over the hump. 

I'm expecting Trent Grisham to be left off the roster since the Yankees seem adamant about having 13 pitchers. If someone in the OF gets hurt you can replace with Grisham after the game. Jasson Dominguez's speed off the bench is a more necessary immediate tool than Grish's substitute defense. 

Let's talk pitching —Gerrit Cole vs. Jack Flaherty in Game 1. Nothing else has been finalized on either side. While Cole being in this spot is no surprise, Flaherty is a stunner. Not necessarily for being picked by Roberts as this game's starter, but for being in this position. Last year he looked completely lost and possibly cooked as a SP. He struggled to be competent with the Cardinals and then the O's after being dealt there during the deadline. He revived himself in Detroit in 2024, however, before becoming the prized deadline acquisition as he was shipped to the Dodgers to stabilize their rotation. Funny enough, the Yankees were competing for his services and even reportedly had a deal in place, which fell apart when the front office balked at his medicals. Now he's pitching against them in the World Series. Not that he needs any extra motivation at this stage, but it's there if he wants it. 

Both of these teams are loaded. If you're looking for edges between the two, it's marginal at best. The Yankees had an AL best +147 run differential this season, only second in the whole sport to the Dodgers at +156. Both offenses have guys in there who will scare the everliving shit out of you. Ohtani's numbers with RISP this postseason are mental (18 for 22). Giancarlo Stanton has five homers, four coming in last series alone. Juan Soto has been everything you can ask for and more from a guy of his caliber and pedigree. His 1.106 OPS and .439 OBP are just what the doctor ordered to spark this team and push them past their previous demons on October. He is unbelievable, look no further than his AL pennant clinching at bat in Game 5 vs. Cleveland. 

Judge has had big moments no doubt, but the overall numbers are not there. At any given moment though, that beast can awaken, but so far he's been slumbering. It's time. A usual postseason dud in Mookie Betts has erupted this October and posted a .296/.404/.659 slash line. There's plenty other thump to be had in these lineups. Gleyber Torres, Teoscar Hernandez, Max Muncy, Anthony Rizzo, Anthony Volpe, hell even Tommy Edman has been coming through. You want offense? You got it all. 

Starting pitching wise, I'd give a decent edge to the Yankees simply because they have more of it. The Dodgers will be deploying some version of Flaherty, Yamamoto, and Buehler with a bullpen game involved. The Yankees will have Cole, Rodon, Schmidt, and Gil with Nestor capable of piggy backing anyone who struggles early on. The big key to me there is that the Dodgers don't have a lefty starting pitcher. No matter if it was Skubal or a homeless guy signed the hour before the game, the Yankees could not figure out lefties. Righties however, they clobber. The splits are stunning. 

Reg season vs. LHP: .235/.334/.387 (.721 OPS) 24th in MLB

Reg season vs. RHP: .253/.332/.445 (.777 OPS) 5th in MLB 

Postseason vs. LHP: .198/.348/.308 (.656 OPS) 

Postseason vs. RHP: .255/.345/.461 (.806 OPS) 

I really believe the Yankees match up better vs. the Dodgers than the Mets and it all comes down to the hand they pitch with. 

I think the bullpen is a bit of a wash. The Yankees are short handed without Ian Hamilton, but still have Luke Weaver, Tommy Kahnle, Jake Cousins, and Tim Hill who have continually showed up to get massive outs. On the other side you have flamethrower Michael Kopech along with Blake Treinen and Evan Phillips. Those three have combined to give up just two runs this postseason. The Dodgers will definitely be relying on a full bullpen game for at least one game this series because of their short-handed rotation. It'll be interesting to see what state that pen is when that game rolls around. 

Let's talk x factors. The Yankees are a horrific base running team. Statistically the worst in the sport. The amount of times they run into brain dead outs is crazy. There may be a game this series they lose solely because of base running. Another part of this to lock into is the manager battle. Aaron Boone vs. Dave Roberts. Boone to this point has managed this postseason beautifully. Whether it's avoiding leaving a starter in too long, or relying on certain relievers for multiple innings. The only blemish he had was going to Luke Weaver in Game 2 of the ALCS in a four run game. Everything else you gotta nitpick to get on him. In the past Boone has made bone-head/in over his own head decisions that doomed this team. Dave Roberts has a history of being a moron manager as well. I think in 2018 against the Red Sox he was completely out-classed by Cora and was a big part in losing that World Series. While I'm admittedly not locked into Roberts in-game moves over the recent years, but the manager aspect of this series will be massive. Just don't step on the land mine. 

Either way you slice it, these are two powerhouses colliding at full force to see who is the last man standing. Everything gets going Friday night in LA. The world will be watching and I cannot wait.