The short reason underdog Yankees will conquer Dodgers in World Series
LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers are favored for this World Series, and the only thing I can figure is that oddsmakers are looking at a months-old roster of theirs.Sure, the Dodgers — oddly, a minus-130 favorite via BetMGM — have an honest-to-goodness All-Star team of pitchers under their employ to go with the best first third of a lineup ever, starting with the incomparable Shohei Ohtani (the Yankees might be second best there).But that’s only if you count all those fantastic starting pitchers who are out due to injuries (many, listed below) or inexplicable underperformance (one more, also below).Of course, if everyone’s healthy and available, nobody beats these Dodgers, which is why I picked them as World Series winners in The Post’s spring special section.
But now that two $300 million juggernaut teams are facing off in this starry, mega-market World Series, there’s only one choice, and it’s the Yankees.Among the sound and the actives, they are simply better.Yes, the annually, chronically disabled Bronx team is remarkably healthy.
And for a change, that’s their big edge.While the Yankees will be fielding basically their full roster (I’m not counting D.J.
LeMahieu, who never looked right in 2024), the Dodgers rotation is being pieced together with bandages and prayers to that oft-cited big Dodger in the sky.Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is beating his Yankees counterpart Aaron Boone to name starters but only because he has so few choices.With a full rotation of accomplished to all-time great starters limited to watching from the dugout or their home digs, Roberts’ options are ridiculously limited.Roberts, the most criticized, successful manager ever (Boone is probably second there) despite an MLB-record 102 wins a year and a fourth World Series appearance in eight years, has only three possible arms to start games before he considers who’s best suited to open the bullpen game that will be necessary.
It’s a talented trio (every Dodger seemingl...