The Yankees and Dodgers will meet up in the World Series for the first time in 43 years on Friday night, bringing together the two teams that represent the most star power than any other two clubs in baseball.
It will be the best of the best on the biggest stage with the two top seeds facing off, but which team has the advantage in key spots? Let’s go around the diamond and see who has the edge at each position:
Catcher: Austin Wells vs. Will Smith
Smith is a 20-home run hitter this season and one of the better offensive catchers in the game over the last five years, although he has mainly struggled at the plate in this postseason, posting a .605 OPS. Wells, who looked like he was blossoming into one of the best backstop bats in the game during the regular season, hasn’t been any better in October, posting a .348 OPS with 15 strikeouts against just three walks. Wells has been great at keeping the ball in front of him behind the plate, but we’re gonna have to go with the more experienced and offensively superior Smith. Advantage Dodgers
First base: Anthony Rizzo vs. Freddie Freeman
Freeman certainly holds the skill advantage offensively at first base as a former MVP, but both first basemen will not be 100 percent in this series. Freeman missed time in the NLCS due to an ankle injury, and while he told reporters he is ready to go for game one, he was clearly hobbled against the Mets. So was Rizzo in the Yankees’ LCS, still battling two fractured fingers suffered at the end of the regular season. While Rizzo has had his issues defensively since returning, it didn’t seem to impact him at the plate, where he posted an OPS of 1.000 in the ALCS.
Freeman had a pair of 0-for-5 games on his bum ankle against the Mets, but after several days of rest for both players, the edge will go to Freeman, who is simply a better player at this point in his career. But Rizzo has a championship ring to his credit as well, so don’t be surprised if he comes up with a big hit at some point in this series. Advantage Dodgers
Second base: Gleyber Torres vs. Chris Taylor/Gavin Lux/Whoever else
The Dodgers have been shuffling the deck at second base, as even Kike Hernandez has seen time at the position along with Taylor and Lux. Lux didn’t record a hit in the NLCS, while Taylor logged a solid three singles in eight at-bats. Still, that doesn’t compare to the red-hot Torres, who has been a staple atop the Yankee lineup since September and has carried that into the playoffs, posting an .832 OPS in the postseason so far, including three multi-hit games in the ALCS.
Torres’ defense and baserunning leave something to be desired at times, but the Yanks take the edge here. Advantage Yankees
Shortstop: Anthony Volpe vs. Tommy Edman
Edman was a sensation for the Dodgers in the NLCS, taking home series MVP after batting .407 with a home run and three doubles. It was an otherworldly performance for a player who has been an average hitter across his MLB career, but those numbers are better than Volpe’s career stats, as he has yet to materialize into the star the Yankees envisioned.
But is Volpe starting to find his potential at just the right time? His at-bats in the playoffs have looked noticeably better, and even as he has banged into some hard-hit outs, he still is batting .310 with an .804 OPS in his first-ever postseason, with his stout defense to go along with it. With a position like shortstop carrying so much defensive importance, we’ll give the edge to the reigning Gold Glove winner at the position. Advantage Yankees
Third base: Jazz Chisholm Jr. vs. Max Muncy
Could these two third basemen have had more different offensive performances in the LCS? Muncy made baseball history by reaching base in 11 straight plate appearances, while Chisholm continued to look lost at the plate, batting .141 with a .481 OPS so far in the playoffs. Chisholm has done a respectable job at the hot corner, a position he had never played before arriving in the Bronx, but so far, he has been nearly an automatic out for the Yankees, so this one feels like an easy choice. Advantage Dodgers
Left field: Alex Verdugo vs. Teoscar Hernandez
This feels like another fairly easy one in favor of Los Angeles. Verdugo has picked up a couple big hits in this postseason, but overall, he has been a bad hitter since May, with fairly non-existent power. Meanwhile, Hernandez is coming off a 33-homer season and may have shaken off his rough October thus far with a two-hit night against the Mets in the clinching game six.
Verdugo is still a solid left fielder, but the offensive gap is too great. Advantage Dodgers
Center field: Aaron Judge vs. Kike Hernandez
Yes, Hernandez seems to always turn into a star in October while Judge has been a superstar nearly every month but October across his sparkling career, but the advantage still goes to one of the best hitters on the planet. He is coming off of a historically good regular season that will win him the MVP award, and his ability to get on base and hit homers has still shown itself in this playoff run. At some point, the MVP is going to break out. Hopefully for the Yankees, it starts on Friday night. Advantage Yankees
Right Field: Juan Soto vs. Mookie Betts
Now we get to maybe the most exciting position battle in this series. No position highlights the combined star power in this Fall Classic like right field, as Soto and Betts represent two of the brightest stars in baseball. Soto, coming off a 41-homer career year in his debut season as a Yankee, now owns one of the biggest home runs in recent franchise history thanks to his three-run blast in the 10th inning of game five of the ALCS to send the Yanks to a pennant. Soto boasts a .906 OPS in his first taste of playoff baseball as a Yank, and already boasts a championship to his name. Betts has two rings, and is coming into the Fall Classic with a 1.063 OPS so far in these playoffs. This really could go either way, but Soto has been able to wear down every pitcher he’s faced with competitive at-bats, so we’ll go with The Generational. Advantage Yankees
Designated hitter: Giancarlo Stanton vs. Shohei Ohtani
Another highly entertaining matchup at DH, as Ohtani is entering his first World Series on the heels of the first-ever 50/50 season, while Stanton has only continued to add to his postseason legend.
Stanton, fresh off of his ALCS MVP honor, has upped his career playoff OPS to a robust 1.019 after homering in three straight games to clinch the pennant for New York. Ohtani went deep in his first career playoff game back in the NLDS, and has a very impressive .934 OPS so far in his first postseason run. Both bats are capable of changing the series, especially considering Stanton loves hitting in his hometown Dodger Stadium, but the baserunning ability couldn’t be more polar opposite, and Ohtani carries just a little more threat at the plate at this point in his career. Advantage Dodgers
Starting rotation
The Yankees have their ace, and the best starter in this series in Gerrit Cole, set up for game one, meaning he could be available for three games if necessary. They also have a newly even-keeled Carlos Rodon, who has looked brilliant in this postseason outside of one inning. Clarke Schmidt looked like an All-Star before his lat injury earlier in the year, and has only given up four runs in 9.1 playoff innings. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have former Yankee trade target Jack Flaherty, who was demolished by the Mets in his last start, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has seen his ups and downs while not going deep into games, and Walker Buehler, who grinded through four shutout innings against the Mets after getting bombed for six runs by the Padres in the NLDS. The Yankees have the deeper rotation with more firepower at the top. Advantage Yankees
Bullpen
The Yankee bullpen looked like the undeniable strength of the team through six playoff games, but suddenly, Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver have looked more human. Have they run out of gas after being relied upon heavily in the postseason, or has this week off been the cure to get those key arms back to dominance?
Meanwhile, the Dodgers have fatigue problems of their own, as manager Dave Roberts has been forced to use bullpen games during the postseason due to their lack of starting pitching depth. LA still has plenty of firepower in the pen in Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips, and others, but the Yankees can counter with Tommy Kahnle, perhaps Tim Hill against Ohtani, and Jake Cousins came up big against Cleveland in the ALCS.
This could be a push, but the Dodgers have faced better bats this postseason, and the Holmes/Weaver combo looked vulnerable in the ALCS. The slight, slight edge will go to LA. Advantage Dodgers