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These Yankees players could surprise and become unlikely World Series heroes vs LA Dodgers

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These Yankees players could surprise and become unlikely World Series heroes vs LA Dodgers

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NEW YORK – Every now and then, the World Series gives us a Brian Doyle.

A reserve Yankees infielder, the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Doyle – a lefty-hitting second baseman who choked up on the bat – was thrust into the 1978 postseason spotlight due to Willie Randolph’s late-season injury.

Doyle’s World Series performance against the Dodgers ensured his forever place in Yankees history, a greater achievement considering his .161 batting average over 110 career games.

“If you’re going to be a championship club, you’ve got to get those contributions from maybe unexpected places,’’ said Yankees manager Aaron Boone, ahead of his club’s World Series meeting against the Dodgers beginning Friday night in Los Angeles.

On the Yankees side, the spotlight will be trained on Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Game 1 starter Gerrit Cole, and even new closer Luke Weaver – now expected to nail down the game’s final outs.

But there’s always the possibility of a Doyle moment.

In 54 regular season 1978 plate appearances, the 24-year-old Doyle did not have a walk, an RBI or an extra-base hit.

During the ’78 playoffs, then consisting of two rounds, Doyle batted .391 (9-for-23).

The Yanks-Dodgers World Series was tied two games apiece entering Game 5, when Doyle had three hits, a walk and an RBI in a Yankees victory in the Bronx.

And in Game 6 at Dodger Stadium, Doyle had three more hits – including a game-tying RBI double and an RBI single to extend a one-run lead – as the Yanks repeated as world champs.

The following Yankees might be more known than Doyle was in ’78, but considering the expensive, star-studded 2024 roster around them, they could become off-the-radar heroes against the Dodgers:

Alex Verdugo

Already, Verdugo has shaken off a lackluster regular season and regained his place as the regular left fielder, despite the presence of heralded prospect Jasson Dominguez.

Verdugo has batted just .194 (6-for-31) in the Yankees’ nine playoff games, but his generally superb defense in left field has been an underrated part of the Yankees’ Division Series and Championship Series wins.

That could come into play in L.A., where Verdugo – a former Dodger – is quite familiar with his surroundings.

Drafted by the Dodgers, Verdugo is a .299 career hitter with an .802 OPS in 72 games at Dodger Stadium, and he was the key player going to the Boston Red Sox in the preseason 2020 trade that netted Mookie Betts.

Jake Cousins

The right-hander might have already announced his arrival as a potential key player in the Yankees’ bullpen.

In Saturday’s ALCS clinching Game 5 at Cleveland, Cousins entered a 2-2 game in the seventh and retired four of the five batters he faced, bridging it to Weaver in the ninth.

Before that, Cousins had pitched just one-third of an inning in the ALDS and yielded two runs in one inning of ALCS Game 4, his only other playoff appearance.

Left off the first two playoff rosters, Mark Leiter Jr. – added to the ALCS due to Ian Hamilton’s injury – has already made big contributions after a shaky two months in pinstripes.

But he was a known factor with a swing-and-miss splitter when the Yankees acquired him at the trade deadline.

Cousins, 30, was essentially let go by the historically awful Chicago White Sox, who sold him to the Yankees during the season’s first week, and the Yanks have watched his slider become a big weapon.

Clarke Schmidt

We’d be more inclined to put Jon Berti or Oswaldo Cabrera on this list, if not for Anthony Rizzo’s return to first base – having missed the ALDS due to recovery from two fractured fingers.

Barring injuries, it’s hard to see Dominguez or Trent Grisham finding any lane for playing time, and Nestor Cortes – who could arrive back from a flexor strain – is a cool customer whose success in any role wouldn’t shock.

So, we land on Schmidt, who could play a vital role with starts in Game 3 and in Game 7 – if necessary – at Dodger Stadium.

Only the veterans Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon have completed at least six innings as Yankees playoff starters in 2024, and Schmidt likely wouldn’t be asked to go much past the fifth inning under normal circumstances.

Game 3 is a potentially pivotal start, where the Yanks could be down 0-2, or trying not to trail 2-1 entering Game 4, with a rookie in Luis Gil starting Game 4 – the starting arrangement Boone has suggested.

A Game 7 would be a kitchen-sink approach, with Cole possibly being asked to grab a couple of outs, but it lines up as Schmidt’s start.

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