The final time the Yankees had been at Dodger Stadium, they misplaced Sport 2 of the 2024 World Sequence, 4-2.
The defeat, which featured a gem from the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a clunker from Carlos Rodón and a house run from Juan Soto, put the Yankees in a 2-0 gap within the Fall Basic. They went on to lose their first World Sequence since 2009 in 5 video games and sloppy trend, sparking an offseason of trash speak from the backend of Los Angeles’ roster because the Bombers rebuilt their very own.
“I don’t like hearing that,” Aaron Boone stated of the jabs this spring, “but the reality is we didn’t play our best in the series and they won. So they have that right to say whatever. Hopefully we’re in that position this year and handle things with a little more class.”
With the playoffs nonetheless months away, the stakes received’t be as excessive when the first-place golf equipment start a three-game sequence in L.A. on Friday. Nonetheless, the Yankees, contemporary off a sweep over the Angels after a 1-0 win on Wednesday, would like to extract some common season revenge with a gaggle that appears noticeably totally different than the one which the Dodgers knocked down on baseball’s greatest stage.
Gone is Soto, who spurned the Yankees – and flippantly flirted with the Dodgers – earlier than signing a record-setting contract with the Mets. The Yankees additionally moved on from Gleyber Torres, Anthony Rizzo, Alex Verdugo and Nestor Cortes, who all performed giant – if not essentially profitable – elements within the 2024 World Sequence.
Giancarlo Stanton, in the meantime, has but to play this season as a consequence of tennis elbow accidents after terrorizing his hometown Dodgers and different playoff opponents final October. The Yankees may even be with out Gerrit Cole, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Luis Gil, Oswaldo Cabrera and Fernando Cruz, amongst others, this weekend.
After shedding the Soto sweepstakes, the Yankees pivoted to Max Fried, Devin Williams, Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger. Fried, the largest and first splash following Soto’s departure, has been sensational, recording a league-best 1.29 ERA over 11 begins and main the Yankees’ rotation with Cole sidelined by Tommy John surgical procedure.
A childhood Dodgers fan who went to highschool in L.A., Fried is scheduled to start out the primary sport of the sequence.
Williams, in the meantime, has had a bumpy tenure in New York up to now. Initially below the impression he’d be traded to the Dodgers over the winter, the reliever began the season because the Yankees’ nearer, solely to pitch his means out of the function. Williams has principally been efficient since, although he wobbled his means by way of his first save alternative in a month on Tuesday in Anaheim.
Goldschmidt, 37 and coming off the worst 12 months of his profession, has been a discount for the Yankees, hitting .347 with 5 dwelling runs and 27 RBI whereas stabilizing first base. In the meantime, Bellinger, who received an MVP Award with the Dodgers in 2019, has discovered his footing after a rocky begin, hitting .318 with 5 homers and 16 RBI this month.
Collectively, the 2 veterans have helped lengthen a post-Soto lineup that can be now reliant on – and getting vital contributions from – children Ben Rice and Jasson Domínguez. In fact, Aaron Decide’s continued otherworldly efficiency has additionally helped the Yankees put collectively one among baseball’s finest offenses.
That lineup will go up in opposition to a pitching employees that’s not at full power, as L.A. starters Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki and Blake Snell – the latter two being of curiosity to the Yankees this previous offseason – are on the injured listing. The Dodgers’ bullpen can be lacking Kirby Yates, Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech, Brusdar Graterol and Blake Treinen.
They’ve had their very own closing points, too, as Tanner Scott, signed to a four-year, $72 million deal over the winter, has allowed 9 earned runs over his final 5 appearances.
With the Dodgers down various pitchers, Tony Gonsolin, Landon Knack and Yamamoto – pitching like an early Cy Younger contender – are slated to start out within the sequence.
Fried, additionally making an early bid for pitching’s most prestigious {hardware}, might be adopted by red-hot rookie Will Warren. The Yankees have but to announce their Sunday starter, although their choices are Rodón, pitching like an All-Star and in search of redemption at Chavez Ravine, or ex-Dodger Ryan Yarbrough, a swingman who has been a revelation for the Yankees’ rotation not too long ago.
The Dodgers even have one among MLB’s higher offenses. Just like the Yankees, they rank within the top-three in runs, dwelling runs, wRC+ and fWAR.
