World Series: Do Yankees have a pitching edge over the Dodgers?

LOS ANGELES — A straw poll of rival scouts, executives and managers — none directly involved in this Dodgers-Yankees World Series — yielded similar results when it came to breaking it down and making predictions.

Some picked the Yankees, some picked the Dodgers. All had it close, six or seven games.

Those picking the Yankees settled on one advantage, or one they thought would be an advantage.

“The Dodgers' rotation is short,” said one National League manager, granted anonymity like all polled so he could  speak bluntly about both teams. “The Yankees have to try to squeeze every pitch out of those starters. Everybody talks about how good their [the Dodgers'] bullpen is, but they’re gassed, too. You can get to that bullpen. For me, the key is, how quick can they [the Yankees] get to the bullpen.''

The Yankees started Gerrit Cole in Friday night’s Game 1 against the Dodgers' Jack Flaherty. From there, the Yankees will go with Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil. The Dodgers will counter with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler and . . .  their bullpen.

The Dodgers have gone the bullpen-game route three times this postseason — staving off elimination in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Padres (winning the series in five games) and then twice against the Mets in the NLCS, including in their series-clinching win in Game 6.

For his part, Aaron Boone, at least publicly, wasn’t declaring it as a decided advantage.

“I don't know. They've had some success with that in the postseason,” he said Friday afternoon. “I feel a lot of confidence with our group in things that we do well. I know the Dodgers feel the same way about their group and how they piece things together. I think it's two outstanding teams going at it. I don't know if I look at it advantage one way or the other. It comes down to who plays the best.”

One rival American League talent evaluator, in discussing the Yankees' rotation, mentioned the fact that Cole and  Schmidt missed significant chunks of time this season and called it “a blessing.”

Cole started the season on the injured list with right elbow inflammation and didn't make his first start until June 19. Schmidt was among the best starters in MLB in late May, then missed nearly three months with a lat strain.

“Those guys are fresher than everyone else,” the evaluator said. “They’re not gassed.”

Both bullpens performed well overall in the teams' first two rounds of the playoffs. The Yankees’ group combined to throw 15 2/3 scoreless innings in a four-game ALDS victory over the Royals and, with the exception of hiccups by Luke Weaver and Clay Holmes in a 10-inning loss to the Guardians in Game 3 of the ALCS, the unit was tremendous again in the five-game victory over Cleveland. Lefty Tim Hill and Mark Leiter Jr., who was added to the ALCS roster after a calf injury suffered by Ian Hamilton, recorded some of the biggest outs of the series.

Where might the Dodgers have an advantage?

According to the NL manager, the Yankees’ propensity to get sloppy on the bases at times could come back to bite them in a way it didn’t in the first two rounds.

“Limiting baserunning mistakes for the Yankees will be key,” the manager said. “They cannot be giving away outs to the Dodgers.”

The Dodgers’ lineup is deep and long, as is the Yankees’. Like the Yankees, Dodgers hitters make pitchers come into the strike zone, the manager noted.

“The Dodgers control the strike zone very well,” he said. “You can’t be giving them free bases. You have to beat them in the strike zone. You cannot be walking people. They don’t chase. You have to attack those guys.”

Berti out. Utilityman Jon Berti, who started two games at first base in the Division Series and one in the ALCS, was left off the World Series roster because of a right hip flexor strain, Boone said before the game. He said the injury occurred in Game 4 of the ALCS and that Berti, if healthy, would have been on the World Series roster. “It’s a blow,” Boone said. The Yankees took 13 pitchers on the 26-man roster, including Nestor Cortes, who missed the first two rounds with a flexor strain in his left elbow, and Marcus Stroman, who was not on the ALDS roster but was active for the ALCS, though he didn’t pitch.