Dodgers Preview: Yankees Return to Los Angeles for ’24 World Series Rematch

LOS ANGELES, CA— For the first time since Games One and Two of the 2024 World Series, the New York Yankees will return to Dodger Stadium for a three-game weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Just seven months removed, both teams from last year’s Fall Classic, in which the Dodgers won their eighth World Series title in franchise history, defeating the American League Champion New York Yankees in five games.

Fast-forward to today, and both of these teams are primed for another rematch in October, with the Dodgers holding the third-best record in the highly contested National League and the Yankees just one game back of the Detroit Tigers for the best record in Major League Baseball.

Despite losing superstar Juan Soto to their city rival, the New York Mets, the Yankees have gotten solid production from their replacements, which include former Los Angeles Dodger and 2019 National League Most Valuable Player Award winner Cody Bellinger.

Bellinger, 29, has been a solid addition to the Yankees’ 26-man roster, hitting .258/.329/.457 with eight home runs and thirty-two RBI, all while playing exceptional defense, ranking in the 92nd percentile in OAA (4).

Speaking of defense, this season has seen a drastic shift for the New York Yankees where coming into this series the Bronx Bombers rank 6th in Defensive Runs Saved (22) when they finished the 2024 regular season ranked 12th.

Despite the loss of Gerrit Cole this season as the former American League Cy Young Award winner underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery earlier this spring, the Yankees’ pitching staff has been led by top free agent signing lefty Max Fried.

Fried, 31, inked a massive 8-year, $218 million contract with the Yankees this offseason, solidifying their starting rotation, but has been stellar in his first season in pinstripes, holding a 1.29 ERA and an undefeated 7-0 record.

And we can’t talk about the Yankees without mentioning the Captain, Aaron Judge, who is on pace to have the greatest season for a right-handed hitter, and is on track to win his likely third American League Most Valuable Player Award, slashing .391/.488/.739 with a league-leading OPS of 1.227 and 244 OPS+.

The Yankees are red hot coming into today’s matchup, winners of nine of their last ten games, including back-to-back sweeps of the Los Angeles Angels and Colorado Rockies.

As for the Los Angeles Dodgers, they went a respectable 3-3 on their six-game road trip, dropping a series against the New York Mets but rebounding and taking two of three against the Cleveland Guardians despite a bullpen meltdown in the third and final game of that series.

Overall, the Dodgers are 5-5 over their last ten games, but they return home, where they have won nineteen of twenty-seven games this season and still lead the National League West standings, two games ahead of the second-place San Diego Padres.

The story for the Dodgers this series, much like last October, will be what the Dodgers get out of their starting rotation and overworked bullpen.

The Dodgers are down three of their original Opening Day rotation with Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki all on the injured list.

While Yoshinobu Yamamoto is lined up to start the third and final game on Sunday, they’ll have to depend on Tony Gonsolin and Landon Knack for the first two games of this series and each starter has an ERA north of four.

The offense, like last October, will depend on out-mashing the Yankees, which seems doable as the Dodgers’ offense has averaged 5.6 Runs Per Game this season compared to the Yankees’ 5.5.

Pitching match-ups 

Game One: Tony Gonsolin (2-1, 4.68 ERA) vs Max Fried (LHP) (7-0, 1.29 ERA)

Game Two: Landon Knack (2-2, 5.22 ERA) vs Will Warren (3-2, 4.09 ERA)

Game Three: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-3, 1.97 ERA) vs TBD (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Game Times

Game One: 7:10 PM PT, Apple TV+

Game Two: 4:15 PM PT, FOX

Game Three: 4:10 PM PT, ESPN

Who’s in & who’s out?

Not much has changed for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ injured list heading into this weekend’s series.

The significant move was made yesterday when the Dodgers acquired former All-Star closer Alexis Díaz from the Cincinnati Reds via trade. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers transferred righty Evan Phillips to the 60-day injured list, the 11th player to join that group.

As for Díaz, the righty won’t join the Dodgers’ 26-man roster immediately; rather, he’ll travel to Arizona and meet with the Dodgers’ pitching coordinators, and possibly a few stints in Triple-A before making his way to Los Angeles.

The 14-player injured list is comprised entirely of pitchers, and multiple arms are on the mend, but their return is not imminent.

Glasnow, Snell, and Sasaki have each begun a throwing program and hope to rejoin the rotation by late June or early July.

Emmet Sheehan started his minor league rehab assignment. Michael Kopech is about finished his stint in Triple-A and should rejoin the Dodgers in June.

Edgardo Henriquez made his first appearance last night since injuring his foot in spring training but will likely need to be built up.

15-day Injured List (3): Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Kirby Yates

60-day Injured List (11): Blake Snell, Brusdar Graterol, Michael Grove, Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt, Emmet Sheehan, Edgardo Henriquez, Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips

The New York Yankees, while missing big names such as Giancarlo Stanton and Gerrit Cole, are relatively healthy this season.

Utilityman Jazz Chisholm Jr. is set to return in early June after suffering a right oblique strain and traveled with the team during their West Coast road trip.

Luis Gil has been sidelined since February with a right lat strain, which could throw off a mound for the first time since his injury at Dodger Stadium, and is eying a mid-season return.

Marcus Stroman has been dealing with left knee inflammation throughout the regular season and threw a bullpen session on May 27th, and could rejoin the pitching staff in June.

10-day Injured List (2): Jazz Chisholm Jr., Oswaldo Cabrera

15-day Injured List (2): Marcus Stroman, Fernando Cruz

60-day Injured List (5): Giancarlo Stanton, JT Brubaker, Luis Gil, Gerrit Cole, Jake Cousins

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