World Series Game 1 starting pitchers: Yankees’ Gerrit Cole and Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty square off

The biggest names between the star-studded Yankees and Dodgers are in the lineups, but more often than not, pitching rules in October. Bullpens are critical, but both World Series teams will be looking to their starting rotations to set the tone throughout the series.

The Yankees’ rotation didn’t have an especially weak link in 2024, but the dominance just wasn’t there. Gerrit Cole missed about half the season and struggled to regain his 2023 form when he was healthy, while inconsistency from Carlos Rodon and Marcus Stroman was offset by a breakthrough year from Luis Gil and a bounce-back campaign by Nestor Cortes Jr.

The Dodgers’ rotation kept getting thinner as the season wore on, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Stone among those who missed time. The latter three were ruled out for the postseason, but the deadline addition of Jack Flaherty and a steady bullpen have helped get Los Angeles to the Fall Classic.

Who gets the ball for the Yankees and Dodgers in Game 1? Here’s a look at the starting pitchers and how they compare to one another.

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Yankees-Dodgers Game 1 starting pitchersGerrit Cole will get the start for the Yankees in Game 1, while Jack Flaherty will take the mound for the Dodgers.

Cole was the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner and has World Series experience from his time with the Astros, but he hasn’t won a championship.

The longtime ace didn’t make his season debut until June 19 this season after missing nearly three months with elbow inflammation. He wasn’t the same pitcher he was last season, but Cole was still steady and showed flashes of dominance. For the Yankees, who feared Cole might have a season-ending injury in spring training, just having their ace on the mound down the stretch was a major sigh of relief.

It was less than a year ago that Flaherty signed a low-risk, one-year deal with the Tigers after a rocky season split between the Cardinals and Orioles. It worked out better than just about anyone could have imagined, and the Dodgers are fortunate Detroit opted to sell ahead of the deadline. Los Angeles landed Flaherty less than an hour before the deadline, fortifying its rotation with a pitcher who is set to cash in this offseason. 

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Gerrit Cole statsStartsW-LIPERAWHIPKK/9178-595.03.411.13999.4The Yankees had to feel fortunate just to get anything out of Cole this season after his injury scare in the spring, but it wasn’t the kind of year the Cy Young winner is used to having.

Cole posted a 3.41 ERA and 1.13 WHIP over 95 innings of work, perfectly fine marks but a step below the 2.913 ERA and 0.99 WHIP he averaged from 2018-2023 despite pitching being better around the league in 2024. The 34-year-old’s strikeout rate of 9.4 per nine innings was also his lowest mark since 2017, though it was only a step better in his Cy Young season last year.

Cole didn’t face the Dodgers in 2024, as he returned after the two powerhouses faced off in early June, but he has a career 5.01 ERA in eight starts against Los Angeles and a 4.71 ERA in five starts at Dodger Stadium.

Cole’s career postseason ERA is 2.98 with 146 strikeouts over 20 starts, so his October track record is strong even if he’s had occasional blow-ups. 

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Gerrit Cole vs. Shohei Ohtani statsHere’s Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani’s career numbers against Cole:

AVG.200H-AB4-20HR1RBI3OPS.638Ohtani has taken Cole deep once in 20 at-bats, but he only has four hits and a .638 OPS against the Yankees ace. 

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Jack Flaherty statsStartsW-LIPERAWHIPKK/92813-7162.03.171.0719410.8Flaherty struggled mightily in 2023 but enjoyed a resurgent season between the Tigers and Dodgers, posting a 3.17 ERA and 194 strikeouts over 162 innings.

A 10.8 strikeout per nine rate was Flaherty’s highest over a full season since 2018, and his walk rate of just 2.1 per nine set a new career high.

The postseason has been a mixed bag for Flaherty. He was dominant in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Mets, but he was torched in Game 5 and wasn’t consistent in the NLDS. Flaherty has a career 4.91 ERA in the postseason over eight starts, a mark that has worsened this October. 

Flaherty threw six shutout innings in his only career start against the Yankees last year, allowing two hits and striking out four. 

Jack Flaherty vs. Aaron Judge statsFlaherty has never faced Yankees star Aaron Judge. The right-hander’s only career start against the Yankees came in July 2023, when Judge was on the IL recovering from a toe injury.

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Yankees-Dodgers Game 2 starting pitchersThe Dodgers will start Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2, while Carlos Rodon will start for the Yankees. 

Yamamoto has made three starts in this postseason, though he only appeared once in the NLCS as Dave Roberts looks to keep him on a strict routine of pitching every five days or more after he missed a chunk of the season with a shoulder injury. That would put Yamamoto in line to start a potential Game 6 as well.