A look at the 27 Yankees players set to take on the Dodgers in the 2024 World Series, starting with Friday’s Game 1:
Jon Berti, IF
Anthony Rizzo’s return lessens the light-hitting Berti’s role to more of a pinch hitter or pinch runner. Berti did get one start against the Guardians when left-hander Matthew Boyd was on the mound, but unless Rizzo can’t play because of the broken fingers in his right hand, Berti likely will be only a bench option.
Oswaldo Cabrera, IF/OF
Cabrera has yet to hit as well at the big league level as the Yankees have hoped, but his speed and defensive versatility are valuable assets, especially this time of year. He has taken well to first base, giving the Yankees options behind Anthony Rizzo.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., 3B
Chisholm was productive after coming over in a trade with the Marlins, producing 11 home runs, 18 stolen bases and an .825 OPS in 46 games as a Yankee. He says he’s at his best when the lights are brightest. Well, they don’t get any brighter than the World Series. The Yankees hope he can find his stroke now after a silent postseason thus far.
Gerrit Cole, RHP
The World Series will be a homecoming for Cole, who grew up only an hour away from Dodger Stadium in Orange, Calif., and went to college at UCLA. It has been a choppy year for the reigning AL Cy Young award winner. He didn’t make his debut until June 19 due to an elbow injury and has been inconsistent in the postseason.
Nestor Cortes, LHP
The southpaw could be an X factor coming out of the bullpen against the Dodgers’ big left-handed bats. Cortes held lefties to a .530 OPS during the regular season. He’s been out with a left elbow flexor strain since Sept. 18, but has been making progress to the point he is expected to be on the World Series roster.
Jake Cousins, RHP
You may have heard of his cousin: Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins. Jake began to make a name for himself this year, becoming a big part of the Yankees bullpen this summer with a 2.37 ERA in 37 relief appearances after signing a minor league contract last December.
Jasson Dominguez, OF
The top outfield prospect has been a nonfactor in the postseason after he didn’t impress enough in September to take Alex Verdugo’s job. He could have a role as a pinch hitter in this series against the Dodgers’ bevy of high-leverage, right-handed arms.
Clay Holmes, RHP
The demoted closer lost his job in early September, but had delivered 11 consecutive scoreless outings before back-to-back shaky appearances in the third and fourth games of the ALCS. He will remain a key part of this bullpen in this series as part of the bridge to Luke Weaver.
Luis Gil, RHP
In 2015, Gil signed as an international free agent with the Twins for a $90,000 signing bonus. Minnesota should’ve kept him. Instead, the Yankees landed him three years later for outfielder Jake Cave. Gil may end up winning the AL Rookie of the Year award this season.
Trent Grisham, OF
Grisham would be a surprising inclusion on the World Series roster because he wasn’t used at all in the previous two rounds. The speedy outfielder can be a contributor as a pinch runner and defensive replacement if the need arises.
Tim Hill, LHP
From getting designated for assignment by the White Sox — the worst team in baseball history — to reaching the World Series, it’s been a roller-coaster ride of a season for the side-arming southpaw. Hill was solid after joining the Yankees in late June, notching a 2.05 ERA in 35 regular-season games, and he has given up only one earned run in 5 ²/₃ playoff innings.
Aaron Judge, OF
Judge reached 300 home runs in his 955th game this year, setting a record for fewest games to do so. The presumptive AL MVP enjoyed another absurd regular season that saw him hit a career-best .322 with 58 homers and 144 RBIs, also a career high. The Hall of Fame is looking more and more like a given for the superstar outfielder.
Tommy Kahnle, RHP
The team’s setup man has been almost unhittable in October, allowing just three hits over seven scoreless innings. Dating to Sept. 3, he has given up two earned runs over 14 ²/₃ frames with 15 strikeouts. The Yankees needed someone to emerge in support of Luke Weaver in the back-end of the bullpen, and Kahnle has taken that role and run with it.
Mark Leiter Jr., RHP
The Leiters are to pitching in New Jersey as the Hurleys are to coaching basketball. It’s the family business. Mark’s uncle, Al, pitched for the Mets and Yankees. His father, Mark, also pitched in the big leagues for 11 seasons. And his cousin, Jack, is a starting pitcher with the Rangers. Good genes.
Tim Mayza, LHP
Nestor Cortes’ availability may knock down Mayza to strictly mop-up duty as the third left-hander in the bullpen. Signed by the Yankees in mid-August after he was released by the Blue Jays, the 32-year-old Mayza has been used sparingly in the playoffs.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:
- Aaron Judge can rid himself of Dodger Stadium and playoff demons in one fell swoop
- Sherman: Gerrit Cole pitching for his Yankees — and baseball — legacy
- Heyman: Dodgers had to take a chance the Yankees couldn’t stomach
- Yankees outfielder has extra World Series motivation: ‘I was upset’
Anthony Rizzo, 1B
Playing with two fractured fingers in his right hand, the 35-year-old — who won a ring with the 2016 Cubs — was surprisingly productive in the ALCS, notching six hits in 14 at-bats, after being left off the ALDS roster. Rizzo, a Hodgkin lymphoma survivor as a teenager, has a foundation to support families affected by pediatric cancer.
Carlos Rodon, LHP
The emotional southpaw responded to a shaky first postseason starts with two quality efforts, allowing three earned runs over 10 ²/₃ innings with 15 strikeouts. His second season in pinstripes was better (3.96 ERA and 195 strikeouts in 175 innings) than his dismal first, but he remains an enigma, as prone to a blowup start as he is a brilliant one.
Clarke Schmidt, RHP
A player development win for the Yankees, the 28-year-old Schmidt has grown into a reliable middle-of-the-rotation arm. Though he hasn’t given the Yankees great length in the playoffs — his two starts have lasted 4 ²/₃ innings apiece — he has yielded just two earned runs in each of his two outings.
Juan Soto, OF
In his first game as a Yankee, Soto made the game-winning play, throwing out the potential tying run at the plate against the hated Astros. It was a sign of a monster year to come, one in which he set personal records with 41 homers and 128 runs scored. He has been the same force in October, sending the Yankees to their first World Series in 15 years with his three-run homer in the 10th inning of the clinching Game 5 of the ALCS.
Giancarlo Stanton, DH
The hulking slugger leads all current players with 429 career home runs and will play in his first World Series in his 15th year in the sport. Stanton grew up a Dodgers fan in Los Angeles, and has terrific numbers at Dodger Stadium: 10 home runs, 26 RBIs and a .309 average in 25 games. He was also the MVP there in the 2022 All-Star Game.
Marcus Stroman, RHP
Similar to Anthony Volpe, Stroman is a local product, starring at Patchogue-Medford High School on Long Island. Unlike Volpe, though, it has been a quiet postseason for the right-hander, who has yet to appear in a game, partly due to his inability to miss bats coupled with an 8.80 September ERA.
Gleyber Torres, 2B
The free agent-to-be has solved the Yankees’ problems in the leadoff spot, batting .310 since moving to the top of the order on Aug. 16 in Detroit. The 27-year-old second baseman has been a terrific table-setter there in the playoffs, producing a .400 on-base percentage with nine runs scored.
Jose Trevino, C
Despite Austin Wells’ massive hitting struggles over the past seven weeks, Trevino’s playing time hasn’t increased. He started one game in the playoffs and has appeared in one other. He’s unlikely to see more action in this series, as the Dodgers don’t have any left-handed starting pitchers.
Alex Verdugo, OF
Verdugo has strong Dodgers roots. They drafted him in the second round in 2014, he debuted for them in 2017 and he was the centerpiece of the Mookie Betts trade with the Red Sox following the 2019 campaign. Verdugo’s stellar defense has quieted the fervor for Jasson Dominguez to replace him in the lineup.
Anthony Volpe, SS
He grew up a fan of Derek Jeter, attending Yankees games and developing into an elite prospect at a local high school powerhouse in New Jersey (Delbarton School). In his second big league season, Volpe quietly has been a big factor in the playoffs at the plate, posting a .310/.459/.345 slash line with an .804 OPS.
Luke Weaver, RHP
An afterthought in spring training, Weaver has become one of the most important Yankees. Though he did give up the game-tying, two-run homer in the Guardians’ lone win in the last round, the new closer has allowed earned runs in only two of his previous 16 appearances across 21 ¹/₃ innings.
Austin Wells, C
An AL Rookie of the Year candidate until his disastrous September, Wells enters the World Series still in a deep slump. Though he did go deep in Game 4 of the ALCS — it was his first homer since Sept. 9 — he is 3-for-33 in the postseason and 11-for-105 including September.