To say the Yankees‘ road to the World Series was easy would be unfair. After all, anything can happen in October and they still had to get the job done to get to the position they find themselves in now.
Still, New York — who was the top seed in the American League and had home-field advantage in both the ALDS and ALCS — handled the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Guardians with relative ease, going a combined 7-2 in the two series.
Now the Yankees will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Fall Classic who pose a few more challenges than what New York has seen thus far with players such as Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman — and that’s just 1 through 3 in the lineup.
It’s a lineup that Game 2 starter Carlos Rodon called “potent” and who outscored the Mets 46-26 in the NLCS. In fact, in 11 postseason games, the Dodgers have scored the most runs (70) with the most home runs (20) than any other team. During the regular season, Los Angeles had the second-most runs scored (842), right in front of New York (815), and the third-most home runs (233) — four less than the MLB-leading Yanks.
“They can definitely swing it and they have a good idea of what the strike zone is,” Rodon said on Friday.
Nevertheless, the left-hander is ready for the challenge of facing such a deep lineup and thinks his team matches up with the Dodgers as well as anybody — more so even.
“We’re all pretty good, you know?” he said. “I know they have good hitters, but we’re here for a reason. I’m here for a reason. I think our lineup is just as good – honestly, I think we’re better but I’m biased. I’m a big leaguer, too, so I’m supposed to get those guys out and that’s what I’m paid for.”
Rodon, who pitched for the San Francisco Giants for one year after seven seasons with the Chicago White Sox and before signing a six-year, $162 million deal with the Yankees prior to last season, has some experience facing Los Angeles in his career, going 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in five starts.
After a forgettable and injury-riddled first season in New York, the lefty bounced back in 2024 and finished 16-9 with a 3.96 ERA (1.22 WHIP). This postseason, he’s 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA (1.12 WHIP) and has 22 strikeouts in 14.1 innings.
“A lot of it had to do with confidence. Confidence in my ability and in myself,” Rodon said about returning to form this year. “Just finding it and going out there and competing and proving to myself that I’m able to still play this game. Last year was hard. It wasn’t easy.
“Obviously I wished I performed better, but last year is last year and I had a goal stepping into this year that I just wanted to be confident and go out there and try to make every start that I can. I think it’s worked out thus far, but there’s one more thing that I know me and my teammates want to do.”
Game 1 of the World Series starts at 8:08 p.m. on FOX.
