And then there were two.
Following two thrilling League Championship Series in both the American League and National League in the MLB playoffs, the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers have emerged as the two contenders for the 2024 World Series. Now, it's time to turn our attention to Yankees vs Dodgers odds for the World Series, plus World Series MVP odds, team previews and more lines for the Fall Classic.
Entering Game 2 on Saturday, the Dodgers are -240 favorites to win the World Series, and the Yankees are +190 underdogs.
Yankees vs Dodgers World Series Odds
| Yankees | Dodgers | |
|---|---|---|
| Series Winner | +190 | -240 |
| Win in 4 | — | +425 |
| Win in 5 | +1300 | +340 |
| Win in 6 | +700 | +350 |
| Win in 7 | +500 | +475 |
Odds via DraftKings as of Saturday, Oct. 26
It should come as no surprise that we'll have a Dodgers vs Yankees World series. The Dodgers and Yankees opened the season among the top contenders with their World Series odds and both entered the playoffs as favorites to win the pennant in their respective league.
Historically, Yankees vs Dodgers has been the most common World Series matchup in MLB history with 11 previous instances, though we haven't seen it since 1981.
The Yankees have won eight of the 11 matchups.
World Series MVP Odds
| Player | World Series Odds |
|---|---|
| Shohei Ohtani | +200 |
| Aaron Judge | +400 |
| Juan Soto | +500 |
| Giancarlo Stanton | +800 |
| Mookie Betts | +900 |
| Max Muncy | +1000 |
| Gerrit Cole | +2500 |
| Tommy Edman | +2500 |
| Teoscar Hernandez | +2800 |
| Enrique Hernandez | +2800 |
| Gleyber Torres | +3000 |
| Jazz Chisholm Jr. | +3500 |
| Freddie Freeman | +3500 |
| Will Smith | +4000 |
| Jack Flaherty | +5000 |
| Carlos Rodon | +6000 |
| Austin Wells | +7000 |
| Yoshinobu Yamamoto | +8000 |
| Anthony Volpe | +10000 |
| Anthony Rizzo | +10000 |
| Luke Weaver | +10000 |
| Walker Buehler | +10000 |
| Gavin Lux | +13000 |
| Michael Kopech | +15000 |
| Blake Treinen | +15000 |
World Series MVP odds via DraftKings on Friday, Oct. 25
Shohei Ohtani is the favorite to win World Series MVP with +220 odds ahead of Game 1. Ohtani reached base 17 times in the NLCS, tied with Max Muncy for the most in Dodgers history. MLB's first 50-50 player has the third-most RBI in this postseason (10) and third-most walks (11).
Aaron Judge has the second-best odds to win the World Series MVP with +490 odds to take home the hardware. Judge hasn't played up to his regular season heights during the postseason with a .161/.317/.387 slash line in nine playoff games.
What about the two League Championship Series MVPs?
Giancarlo Stanton has +950 odds to add the World Series MVP to his trophy case after leading the postseason in home runs, including four against the Guardians in the ALCS. Tommy Edman is +3300 to win World Series MVP after tallying 11 hits and 11 RBI against the Mets in the NLCS.
Yankees vs Dodgers Schedule
The World Series begins tonight — Friday, Oct. 25. All of the games will be broadcast on FOX with an 8:08 p.m. ET start time for each contest. Dodger Stadium will host Games 1-2 and 6-7 (if necessary). Yankee Stadium gets Games 3-5.
- Game 1: Friday, Oct. 25
- Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 26
- Game 3: Monday, Oct. 28
- Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 29
- Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, Oct. 30
- Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, Nov. 1
- Game 7 (if necessary): Saturday, Nov. 2
Yankees World Series Preview
Yankees World Series Odds, Ranks & Analysis
- World Series Odds: +105
- Regular Season Record: 94-68
- Team wRC+: 117 (2nd)
- Starting pitching xFIP: 4.21 (21st)
- Bullpen xFIP: 3.92 (11th)
How They Got Here
Put bluntly, the Yankees got here on account of a dream postseason bracket.
After finishing 24-7 against the AL Central this season, the Yankees drew the Kansas City Royals in the ALDS, and after the Detroit Tigers eliminated the Houston Astros, N.Y. was guaranteed to face yet another team from the division in the ALCS.
Anything short of two quick series would have been considered troubling for the Yankees' title hopes, and New York obliged by taking out the Royals in four games and the Guardians in five. Its two losses, too, could have been easily avoided.
Offense
The Yankees may be hitting just .237 this postseason, with a rather unassuming .176 Isolated Power (ISO) for their standards, but it should be said that they’ve hit into a bit of bad luck over the course of their nine games.
New York had to go to battle with the league’s top defense by Outs Above Average (by quite a large margin) when it struggled to score against Kansas City, and things improved only marginally against a Cleveland team that ranked ninth in OAA.
The Yankees lead all teams this postseason with a .279 Expected Batting Average (xBA) and .494 Expected Slugging Percentage (xSLG), which have come in 42 and 80 points below the respective results, and nobody’s approached its 49.1% hard-hit rate, either.
The Yanks can couple this with a postseason-high 13.9% walk rate, which was a boisterous 17.3% against Kansas City, to instill fear in opposing pitchers. Gleyber Torres’ renaissance since being moved into the leadoff spot has continued this postseason as he’s reached base in 40% of his plate appearances, and the bats of Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton remain engulfed in flames.
The most dangerous part is that they’ve done all of this without Aaron Judge, who’s hitting just .161 in the playoffs, but even he’s shown signs of life with a pair of home runs in Games 2 and 3 of the ALCS.
Starting Rotation
The Yankees’ rotation hasn’t been flawless this postseason, but it’s been awfully good.
Carlos Rodon and his 4.40 ERA would appear to be the biggest liability, but he did get off to a fast start with seven strikeouts against the Royals in his first start of the postseason, and after running into trouble in that one, he hasn’t looked back with just three earned runs and 15 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings over the course of his next two starts.
Nobody’s come close to matching Rodon and his 37.3% strikeout rate, and he will likely finish the playoffs with the best xFIP on the team considering it stands at 1.99 entering the World Series.
Gerrit Cole has managed to work himself in and out of trouble, pitching around a .288 opposing batting average – backed by a .306 xBA – to a 3.31 ERA this postseason. He really stands to be the biggest liability in New York's rotation in truth, but it’s hard to find a bone to pick with a group that’s posted a tidy 22.8% strikeout rate and 6.9% walk rate.
Bullpen
This is where things get a little weird.
After struggling for most of the season, replacing their closer late in the year and failing in their quest to add an arm at the deadline when Mark Leiter, Jr. predictably imploded, this stable has pitched to an excellent 2.56 ERA in the postseason.
Luke Weaver and Tommy Kahnle have been masterful in the late innings — with the exception of Weaver’s blown save in the ALCS — and in all this group owns a .201 xBA and incredible .315 xSLG in 38 2/3 innings, with a nice 23.8% strikeout rate.
If there’s one thing that’s scary, it would be an 11.3% walk rate, though it’s hardly the worst number of all the teams that have played this postseason.
Baserunning/Defense
The Yankees defense had a strong close to the season, finishing 11th in OAA with an excellent performance by their infield. They’ve made just two fielding errors in nine games, next to three throwing errors, but the glaring number here is the seven stolen bases they’ve allowed.
The good news is that they’ve stolen six bases of their own on eight attempts, but that’s about the only good thing we can say about this team on the basepaths.
New York finished the year last in Runner Runs, according to Statcast, and it was also the worst in its rate of attempted advances on the bases over expected. The team also made a number of embarrassing baserunning blunders in the ALCS, getting picked off twice.
Dodgers World Series Preview
Dodgers World Series Odds, Ranks & Analysis
- World Series Odds: -125
- Regular Season Record: 98-64
- Team wRC+: 118 (1st)
- Starting pitching xFIP: 3.98 (11th)
- Bullpen xFIP: 4.21 (23rd)
How They Got Here
The Dodgers have had quite a tough road this postseason, first facing a San Diego Padres team that nearly stole the division from them with a late push in September and then the hottest team in baseball in the New York Mets.
After dropping Games 2 and 3 of the NLDS, the Dodgers didn’t seem all that troubled, closing out that series with two shutout wins over San Diego and dropping a bullpen game which seemed like a punt early in the NLCS.
The Dodgers put their foot squarely on the gas pedal with two blowout wins in Games 3 and 4, and after taking one last punch from the fighting Mets in Game 5, they seemed unbothered in Game 6 with a comfortable win.
Offense
The Dodgers offense finished the NLCS with a ridiculous 46 runs scored in six games, hitting a comfortable .268 with a .191 ISO and a swollen 16.2% walk rate, which is becoming of the most patient team in MLB.
For the playoffs, they rank second with a 12.6% walk rate and .251 average, and their .266 xBA and .489 xSLG suggest they’ve been a bit unlucky, just like New York.
Mookie Betts turned things around in a big way against the Mets, and is now hitting .295 for the postseason. Teoscar Hernandez, Will Smith and Max Muncy, however, continue to struggle and there’s a very fair question to ask regarding the depth of this offense.
If not for Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernandez – one of the great postseason hitters of our time – the look here would be an arduous one.
There’s also the case of Freddie Freeman, who’s been dealing with an ankle injury and has been in and out of the lineup for L.A. In a limited capacity, this offense lacks the bite we expected it to have when it was assembled before the season.
Starting Rotation
The rotation has been incredibly suspect for the Dodgers this postseason, and even with a myriad of injuries this year it’s still quite shocking how bad things have become.
The starters for this team have produced a 6.08 ERA, and you can’t even chalk that up to a few bullpen games considering Michael Kopech and Ryan Brasier have allowed just two runs in 3 1/3 innings in the opener role.
Jack Flaherty has continued the dreadful form he built heading into the playoffs with a 7.04 ERA in three starts, backed by a .286 xBA, 10.4% walk rate and incredibly concerning 11.9% strikeout rate.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been a bit better, bouncing back from a brutal Game 1 of the NLCS with two earned runs over his last two outings, but he has struck out just 10 over those 9 1/3 frames and could run into trouble against a Yankees team that limits strikeouts quite well.
Walker Buehler also looked masterful against the Mets, but it’s hard to trust him given his long track record of mediocrity after his major injuries as well as the batted-ball luck he received in New York.
Bullpen
The bullpen has once again been the savior of the Dodgers, working to a 3.16 ERA, though the stable’s .272 xBA and .450 xSLG suggest there could be some issues on the horizon.
This group hasn’t walked many batters, sure, but it hasn’t struck out very many either. It’s also been held down by the back end with Kopech, Evan Phillips and Blake Treinen allowing just one earned run in relief across 17 innings, but Phillips and Kopech have owned a 5.21 and 4.22 xFIP, respectively.
Brasier has been a massive liability, and a lot of the numbers we covered at the start are weighed by some innings in mop-up duty.
We’ve only seen Alex Vesia work three innings due to injury, and this team also offers nothing in long relief with Landon Knack continuing to get beaten down by major-league teams now that the book is out on the inexperienced righty.
Baserunning/Defense
We generally think of the Dodgers as a defensive-minded team, but they finished just 18th in OAA this season with the outfield struggling in particular. With the injury to Freeman, this defense becomes even worse.
The positive is that L.A. has allowed just one stolen-base attempt and has committed just three errors this postseason.
This team has also wreaked havoc on the bases, stealing successfully on 11-of-12 attempts and finishing the season top 10 in Runner Runs and Attempt Rate Above Average, signifying a great blend of aggression and success.
— Team Previews written by Kenny Ducey
