The stage is set for the 2024 World Series. It is the first time since 2013 that both #1 seeded teams made the Fall Classic. The Dodgers and the Yankees will fight for the championship starting this Friday, with one team not heavily favored over the other. In this article, Oliver (a Yankees fan) and Matthew (a Dodgers fan) will offer their opinions on the outcome of this series.
Who are the main players that will lead their respective teams to a World Series Championship?
Matthew: The Dodger’s lineup is filled with stars ranging from Shohei Ohtani to Tommy Edman, the NLCS MVP. He hit .407 with an astounding 11 RBIs to lead the Dodgers. I believe that not one star will allow a team to win successfully, but a collective effort from everyone on the team. The bottom of the lineup: Will Smith, Chris Taylor, Gavin Lux, and Andy Pages have to work together to drive in runners that are in scoring position from the top of the lineup. This will be the key to winning the game and ultimately the series.
Oliver: The Yankees have relied on the top of their order during this postseason. Gleyber Torres and Juan Soto have been an elite duo, Gleyber is hitting .297 with a .400 OBP and 5 RBIs. Soto is hitting .333 with a .439 OBP and 8 RBIs, Juan also hit the homerun that sent the Yankees to the World Series. You can’t talk about the Yankees this postseason without bringing up their best player ALCS MVP Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton has 5 home runs so far this postseason and has delivered whenever the Yankees needed him most.
What is the bullpen situation looking like for both teams?
Matthew: These are the two best teams in baseball with unique attributes. The Yankees are very well rested with five days off. This helps their bullpen tremendously and will play a factor in this series. Their bullpen had an ERA of 0.77 over 23⅓ innings this postseason. The Dodgers however must rely on their bullpen much more because of the lack of starting pitchers available. They will have to through a bullpen game at least once this series to cope with this deficit. This limits the amount of innings that relievers can pitch in high-leverage situations. We might see Dave Robers, the manager of the Dodgers, keep an arm longer in the game than normal to make sure there is enough depth in the pen. The Dodgers lost their last postseason bullpen game with Landon Knack giving up five earned runs over two innings. The Dodgers must look out for a reliever who doesn’t have it that night and take him out right away to prevent as much damage as possible.
Oliver: The Yankees bullpen has looked alright so far this postseason. Standouts like Luke Weaver, Tim Hill, Tommy Kahnle, and Clay Holmes have led the Yankees to the World Series. The ALCS was a very scrappy series where both teams had to rely on their bullpens. Luke Weaver, the Yankees closer, has been one of the best pitchers this postseason. Besides giving up the game-tying homerun to Jhonkenzy Noel in game 3 of the ALCS, Weaver has been pretty close to perfect. Tommy Kahnle has also been an anchor in the bullpen, he has a 0.0 ERA and 6 strikeouts in 7 innings this postseason. Tim Hill and Clay Holmes have also both been very good coming out of the bullpen during this playoff run.
How many games will the series last and who will win?
Matthew: The Dodgers will win the series in game seven. If we win our bullpen game then the series will be over in six games, however, I believe that we will lose this game due to the uncertainty of pitching performance. I think that the games will be fairly close and it will be a very entertaining series to sit back and enjoy watching. Home-field advantage will be interesting to perceive who takes dominance in their home city.
Oliver: The Yankees will win the series in game seven. This is the best team the Yankees have had to play by far this postseason. They also do not have home-field advantage for the first time in the playoffs, so it will be interesting to see if this affects the team. Another key factor in this series is whether the MVP’s, Judge and Ohtani, can deliver during both of their first World Series. Judge has been in a slump lately but maybe he will rise to the occasion during the battle between the two best players in the MLB. This will be a very exciting series, and I think it will go down as one of the best World Series of all time.
