A game plan for Yankees in World Series rematch vs. Dodgers

In a rematch of the 2024 World Series, the first-place New York Yankees (35-20) will play the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers (34-22) in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium starting Friday. 

The Yankees have had a successful May (17-7), while the Dodgers are hovering around .500 for the month (13-12).  The series with the Dodgers marks the end of the Yankees' nine-game trip to the West Coast.

Here's what the Yankees must do against the Dodgers before heading back east. 

Finish the trip out west with a bang

New York, which leads the AL East by seven games, has had a great road trip so far, taking two of three games from the Colorado Rockies and sweeping a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. 

Tied for the fifth-best record in the majors, the Dodgers pose the biggest threat to New York on this trip. Excluding the World Series, the Yankees and Dodgers have played against each other 22 times during the regular season, with each team winning 11 games, per Stathead. 

The Yankees have excelled against other top teams in the big leagues, earning series wins over the Mariners (30-24 through Wednesday), Mets (34-22) and Padres (31-23). In 31 games against teams over .500, the Yankees are 19-12.

"They are currently running away with the AL East the way we’ve become conditioned to seeing the Dodgers so often run away with the NL West," longtime sportswriter Mike Lupica wrote for MLB.com. "It is the Yankees who will come into this weekend series against the Dodgers with the better record and — for now — doing almost as well without [injured pitcher Gerrit] Cole and [former Yankees outfielder Juan] Soto as they did when they were still around."

Take advantage of a shaky Dodgers staff

Despite their team's great record, Dodgers pitching lags. In this series, Los Angeles is expected to start Tony Gonsolin (4.68 ERA), Landon Knack (5.22 ERA) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1.97 ERA). 

Besides Yamamoto, who ranks fifth in the majors in ERA, no other Dodgers starter with at least five starts has an ERA below 4.00. As a team, the Dodgers have the 11th-worst ERA in the league at 4.09 through Wednesday's play. 

Along with ERA, Dodgers pitching is in the bottom 10 in the big leagues in home runs allowed (69), walks (193), slugging (.406) and average exit velocity (89.3 MPH). Despite this, the Dodgers rank in the top half of the league in opponent batting average (.240). 

Meanwhile, the Yankees are the top team in the league in home runs (88), walks (225), on-base percentage (.343), slugging (.466) and average exit velocity (90.7 MPH). 

Limit the damage done by L.A.'s Shohei Ohtani

This weekend's battle is not only between two of the top teams. It's also between reigning MVPs and two of the majors' best hitters, New York's Aaron Judge and Ohtani. 

Against the Yankees, the three-time MVP has a .209 batting average. In 26 games against New York, Ohtani has nine home runs and 18 RBI. In the 2024 World Series, Ohtani only had two hits in 19 at-bats (.105 BA). 

Despite the lack of success against the Yankees, Ohtani is always a threat at the plate. The Japanese slugger leads the league with 20 home runs, and the Dodgers are 13-6 in games when Ohtani homers. 

The expected starters for the Yankees in this series are Max Fried (7-0, 1.29 ERA), Will Warren (3.2, 4.09 ERA) and Ryan Yarbrough (2-0, 3.06 ERA), all of whom have done well in limiting home runs (13 combined this season). 

Of Ohtani's 35 RBI, 28 are the result of home runs. If the Yankees can keep Ohtani in the ballpark, New York will be successful.