For all of the criticism of the current Postseason format in baseball that hasn’t catered to the top two seeds, that all needs to be thrown out of the window now. The New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers were the top seeds for their respective leagues. They will now be facing each other in the World Series for the 12th time and the first since 1981. For New York they haven’t been to the World Series since 2009 when they won their 27th title that season. For Los Angeles, their last World Series title came in 2020 and will be looking for their 8th title in franchise history. Both teams have the star power that most talking heads crave for this kind of a series. The likely MVPs for both the American and National Leagues will be playing for a championship. Let’s hope this matchup will live up to the hype that is surrounding it.

New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

It wasn’t a struggle for the Yankees to get back to the World Series. They easily dispatched better pitching staffs in Kansas City and Cleveland. New York’s own bullpen outperformed their opponents at crucial moments for them to get to this point. Tommy Kahnle has thrown nothing but devastating changeups in most of his appearances in the Postseason and has allowed only 3 hits in his 7 innings of work. Tim Hill and Clay Holmes have done well to either keep a lead or to keep a game tied when a series was on the line. Luke Weaver is having a renaissance for the Yankees by saving four games in his eight appearances. Their rotation has been just as good as their pen with Gerrit Cole setting the tone in his three Postseason starts. His 3.31 ERA is at the top among their starting pitchers. Clarke Schmidt has a 3.86 ERA in his two starts and Carlos Rodon has struck out 22 batters and walked only 1 in his three Postseason starts. The real backbone of this team has been their lineup. Giancarlo Stanton, who was named the ALCS MVP, has been destroying the baseball in October. His .294 batting average and 5 HR and 11 RBI have been exactly what the Yankees have needed in the middle of that order. Juan Soto propelled the Yankees into the World Series with his 3-run home run in Game 5 of the ALCS. His .333 average isn’t too shabby either. Gleyber Torres is having an outstanding Postseason as their leadoff hitter batting .297 and having 7 walks to 5 strikeouts. Anthony Volpe is living up to his billing batting .310 and walking 8 times to 6 strikeouts. The one outlier has been Aaron Judge who has struggled in October. His home run and RBI totals (2-6) aren’t terrible, but his batting average (.161) needs a turnaround in this World Series.

All of the eyes of the country of Japan were on the Dodgers this Postseason. Mainly because of Shohei Ohtani’s first appearance in October, but also because of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and what he brings to the rotation. It has been a struggle for Los Angeles’ rotation this Postseason. Yamamoto’s 5.11 ERA is alarming, but he hasn’t lost a game in October. Walker Buehler has an ERA of 6.00 in his two starts, but looked a lot better in his lone start against the New York Mets as opposed to his first against the San Diego Padres. Jack Flaherty was rocked in two out of his three Postseason starts and must get back on track for the Dodgers to be successful. The onus has fallen to the bullpen to pick up the slack and they have done so throughout October. Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, Anthony Banda, Michael Kopech and Daniel Hudson combined have allowed only four runs in their Postseason appearances. Their individual ERAs are no higher than 2.08. If they continue this kind of a stretch against a daunting lineup, they’ll likely be raising another championship banner. Now the Dodgers lineup will need to keep up the pressure and score runs to win as well. Mookie Betts has bounced back after a slow start. He’s tied for the team lead in RBI with 12. Max Muncy’s patience is on display as he leads the team with 12 walks. Shohei Ohtani has driven in 10 runs, but hasn’t stolen a base yet, which is a bit odd. An unsung hero has been Tommy Edman who was named the NLCS MVP. He is tied with Betts for the team lead in RBI and leads the team with a .341 average. Both teams have shown tremendous patience at the plate. If that trend continues for one of them, they will be lifting that trophy.

Dodgers in 6 games