The New York Yankees will start veteran left-hander Carlos Rodón on Saturday in Game 2 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Rodón will be opposed by Dodgers righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The Yankees and Dodgers had previously announced their probable starters for Game 1: ace Gerrit Cole will get the ball for the Yankees and will be opposed by Jack Flaherty.
Rodón, 31, is fresh off a rebound season for the Yankees. Across 32 regular season starts, he amassed a 3.96 ERA (104 ERA+) and a 3.42 strikeout-to-walk ratio. This will be his fourth appearance in the playoffs. In his three previous outings, he surrendered seven runs (all earned) on 15 hits over the course of 14 1/3 innings. Rodón has, notably, posted an excellent 22-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio this month.
As for Yamamoto, the 26-year-old will be making his fourth postseason appearance as well. He's yielded seven runs on 11 hits in 12 1/3 innings. Yamamoto has also struck out 11 batters and issued four walks. During the regular season, he tallied a 3.00 ERA (129 ERA+) and a 4.77 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 18 games started.
The Yankees and Dodgers, meeting in the World Series for the 12th time, will play Game 1 on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. The Yankees have won eight of the first 11 encounters with the Dodgers in the Fall Classic. The Dodgers, however, won the most recent clash between the two sides, with that coming back in 1981.
According to the website WhoWins, Major League Baseball teams to open a best-of-seven series with a 1-0 lead have then won that series on 64% of occasions. Either Rodón or Yamamoto, then, will be attempting to dig their teams out of a hole.
