Jack Flaherty starts World Series Game 1 for Dodgers, Yoshinobu Yamamoto Game 2

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers will turn to Jack Flaherty to start Game 1 of the World Series against the Yankees at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, manager Dave Roberts said on Tuesday. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Game 2.

Flaherty will oppose New York ace Gerrit Cole in Game 1 for New York, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters on Monday.

It’s been a mixed bag for Flaherty this October, with a 7.04 ERA ERA in his three postseason starts. He lost Game 2 of the NLDS against the Padres and tied a Dodgers record by allowing eight runs in his three innings in Game 5 against the Mets in New York last Friday. In between was seven scoreless innings in Game 1 of the NLCS, the longest Dodgers postseason start since 2021.

Though Flaherty was with the Tigers for the first four months this season, he did not face the Yankees. The last time he started against New York was July 1, 2023, when he pitched six scoreless innings in the first game of a doubleheader for the Cardinals in St. Louis.

Flaherty in his career has held Juan Soto to one double in eight at-bats, plus five walks. Flaherty has never faced Aaron Judge nor Giancarlo Stanton.

One could easily argue that Yamamoto is the Dodgers best starting pitcher at the moment, but his usage is limited because the team plans to give him at least five days of rest between starts. If he starts Game 1, he wouldn’t be able to start Game 5, which would be on four days rest. It would necessitate at least two bullpen games in the World Series, while this setup at least allows the Dodgers to start Flaherty, Yamamoto, and Walker Buehler potentially twice each during the series should it go the distance.

So Yamamoto is slotted in for Game 2, and then again in Game 6 should the Fall Classic last that long. Roberts didn’t commit to when Buehler would start, but it will depend on whether they feel best to deploy a bullpen game, either in Game 3 (the first of three days in a row in New York) or Game 4.

“There will be a bullpen game,” Roberts said. “Over the next few days, we’ll talk abut how Games 3 and 4 look.”

Yamamoto has a 5.11 ERA in his three postseason starts, but the bulk of the damage against him came in Game 1 of the NLDS, when San Diego scored five runs against him. Since then, Yamamoto pitched five scoreless innings in Game 5 to close out the Padres, then struck out eight Mets in 4⅓ innings in Game 4 of the NLCS, allowing two runs as the Dodgers took a 3-1 series lead.