Neutrals should root for …
The same as always: whoever’s playing the Yankees. The Evil Empire may technically be marginal underdogs (48% chance of winning) with the bookmakers but are you really going to root for the team that already has 27 of these things? As well as the bigger payroll (at least technically)? Or are you going to get behind baseball’s best boy, Shohei Ohtani? AE
The Yankees due to the improbable success of their bullpen, and specifically Tim Hill. Hill is the ultimate MLB rags to riches story. Released from the White Sox (who would go on to record the most losses in a season in modern MLB history) in June, the 34-year-old lefty has sidearmed his way to some huge outs in these playoffs. MJ
The Yankees. The good people of New York are still reeling from the indictment against their beloved (OK, maybe not that beloved) mayor, Eric Adams. The city needs a psychological boost in a time of trauma. Plus, with a World Series drought dating to 2009, the Yankees are a quasi-underdog story. AK
Six games is solid, but seven is what you want, complete with ultra-tight, competitive ballgames loaded with juice and bad blood. The Dodgers throwing inside to Aaron Judge. Jazz Chisholm talking smack to anyone and everyone. Belligerent Bronx bleacher creatures taunting Dodger right fielders. And of course, a healthy dose of late inning heroics, bringing us the most complete Fall Classic we’ve had since the Cubs ended their title drought in 2016. DL
What the Yankees need to do to win …
Keep walking. The Yankees walk more than any other team in baseball (10.8% of plate appearances, 4.22 walks per game), and the top two in the lineup, Gleyber Torres and Juan Soto, get more walks than most. Particularly in early innings, that puts pressure on opposing teams – you never really want to pitch to Judge but especially not with men on base. AE
Related: Shohei Ohtani: how the LA Dodgers’ humble, normcore megastar reached baseball’s biggest stage
Continue dialing up the pressure early and often. The Dodgers are their toughest test yet but if the Yankees keep up their sensational on-base percentage, watch out. Torres has reached base in the first inning of eight of the nine Yankees’ playoff games. Also, it’s time for Judge to step it up. MJ
Get a few more innings out of their starting pitchers. The Yankees’ rotation arms didn’t get out of the fifth inning in four of the club’s five ALCS games against the Guardians. If you are manager Aaron Boone, you probably feel pretty good about your back-end bullpen trio of Tommy Kahnle, Clay Holmes, and Luke Weaver. But you’d like to get to them with a lead. AK
The first thing they need to do is figure out how to beat a proper playoff team, which they haven’t done in this postseason. The Yanks are more or less a .500 club since the start of June, and the American League was trash this season. That means defeating the Dodgers will be a stretch. New York will also need to get other players besides Judge, Soto and Giancarlo Stanton to hit with regularity. And they’ll also have to find a way to get Dodger hitters out, which is extremely difficult because they have a long lineup that murders pitching, even with a limited Freddie Freeman. Gerrit Cole has to dominate two games or New York have zero chance. DL
What the Dodgers need to do to win …
Scrape together enough pitching to win four games. Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto have had shaky postseasons but are coming off strong regular seasons (3.17 and 3.00 ERAs respectively). But after that things get worrying – likely third starter Walker Buehler has been consistently inconsistent all year, giving up at least three hits in every single outing and LA’s bullpen, itself weakened by injury, will be crucial. AE
A bounceback game from Flaherty to kick-off the series as well as stick a fork in Cole, whose ERA is better on the road. But LA’s batting is so strong. Ohtani, Max Muncy and even Freeman are well set up to take advantage of the short porch at Yankee Stadium, which could mean lights out for New York. A step up from Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith would especially make the Dodgers lethal. MJ
Hope that some mixture of rest, luck, and painkillers gets reeman back into a groove as he mends an ankle injury. Muncy and Tommy Edman picked up the offensive slack for him during the NLCS. Let’s not bet on that continuing. AK
LA’s lineup needs to wear out the Yankees’ starters and put some innings on that New York bullpen. They also need to catch the ball, which was an issue at times in the NLCS. Then Dave Roberts must out manage Boone, which is mandatory considering Boone is no Miller Huggins. DL
One bold prediction …
We will see MLB’s 22nd ever combined no-hitter. The past decade has seen a much greater willingness from coaches to pull starters early in close playoff games, and it’s rare to see a pitcher reach a third time through the order. The well-rested and healthier Yankees seem more likely to pull it off. AE
At least three games will go into extra innings. Given the makeup of these two teams, especially the respective strengths in their pitching portfolios, it’s easy to envision the Dodgers taking several leads with the Yankees storming back. Luckily, baseball’s newish rules will ensure we’re glued to our screens into the wee hours. MJ
Ohtani has a mildly down series. The Yankees will plan to start Carlos Rodón twice, and the southpaw is hell on lefty hitters like Ohtani. Plus, the greatest ballplayer in the world having a mediocre six or seven games is exactly the kind of thing that a cruel sport like baseball can deliver at will. AK
It’s Game 7, we’re deep into extra innings and LA are out of pitching options. Now Ohtani is jogging from the dugout and down to the Dodgers bullpen. Wait, is he doing what we think he’s doing? Is this really happening? Even though Roberts said it wouldn’t? Yes, yes and yes. To the complete astonishment of the baseball world, Ohtani is warming up to pitch. It’s the afternoon in Tokyo and Japan has ground to a halt. All eyes are on the big baseball god from Oshu as he climbs the hill to face the big Yankees bats in the top of the 16h inning. Then he takes them down, in order. Jaws are dropped: Dodgers win. DL
World Series MVP …
Gerrit Cole. He’ll be expected to outlast Flaherty in Game 1 (and probably Game 4), and there’s a good chance the Yankees take both of those games behind him. Unless one of the big bats goes on a roll, that could well be enough to take the MVP in a tight series. AE
Shohei Ohtani. The dude’s the greatest player on the planet. He showed up big in the regular season and he’s been clutch this postseason, and is 6-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Ohtani’s three-run homer in the second inning of Game 1 of the NLDS v the Padres set the tone for that series and the entire Dodgers’ playoff run. MJ
Mookie Betts. The Dodgers’ generational right fielder has had a torrid playoffs even with Freeman, his usual protection in the batting order, providing very little threat. If Freeman can get a few early knocks and scare the Yankees into lobbing a few more meatballs in Betts’s general direction, watch out. AK
Well it won’t be a Dodgers pitcher, like, say, Yamamoto, because he’s only pitching once in this short series. I can imagine someone like Teoscar Hernández taking over and dominating New York. Especially as he looked so terrible against the Mets in the NLCS, with an OPS of .391. That’s another way of saying that Hernández is due. DL
Your World Series winner will be …
Yankees 4-2 Dodgers. Some would argue the real winner of this ratings-friendly blockbuster matchup has already been decided: it’s commissioner Rob Manfred. But on the field it’s hard not to suspect the Yankees and their relatively healthy and well-rounded lineup will progress serenely towards yet another title. AE
Dodgers 4-3 Yankees. It comes down to batting. The Yankees have more pop but have a bit of a downturn in the back half of their starting lineup. The Dodgers are just as dangerous from a power perspective and almost the entire lineup is a threat. LA are also quite adept at avoiding strikeouts. But, mostly, they’re the team with Ohtani. MJ
Yankees 4-3 Dodgers. These teams are evenly matched, and anyone who thinks either side has a strong advantage is kidding themselves. But with things as equal as they appear to be, I’ll go with the team that has four healthy starting pitchers instead of three. AK
Dodgers 4-1 Yankees. New York will be lucky to get a game off LA as these Yankees are a two-, sometimes three-trick pony at best. Their record was artificially inflated by a quick start in a bad league. Their flawed lineup lacks balance and relies entirely on its heavy top, and I wouldn’t trust Cole in a big spot. LA wipe the floor with New York in five games, most of which are blowouts that won’t help the much ballyhooed bicoastal ratings bonanza. DL
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