5 things to watch as Yankees host Dodgers in three-game series

Here are five things to watch as the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers play a three-game series at Yankee Stadium starting on Friday…

World Series preview?

The Yankees have the best record in the American League and are looking like a team who can represent the league in the World Series. The Dodgers, while not owning the best record in the National League are projected to be fighting to make the World Series after their offseason spending and stacked lineup.

This weekend could be a taste of what fans can expect if these two teams face off in October. How can the Yankees pitchers navigate a lineup with three legit MVP contenders? Will the Yankees lineup be able to hit some of the Dodgers’ impressive arms?

Yes, the rosters of both teams are not final — we have a trade deadline to get through first — but these three games will be good barometers of how each team stacks up against one another. And the Yankees Stadium atmosphere should be electric.

Yamamoto’s Bronx debut

Yoshinobu Yamamoto was the most-coveted pitcher in the market last offseason. And while there were other teams vying for his services, it was down to the Dodgers and Yankees, and ultimately the Japanese superstar chose to go with Los Angeles after agreeing to a 12-year, $325 million deal.

While the Yankees rotation could potentially be better with Yamamoto, they’ve done perfectly fine without him this season.

With that said, Yamamoto is set to make his Bronx debut on Friday. He’ll likely get some Bronx jeers after he chose the Dodgers of the Yankees, but game-wise this is an intriguing matchup. After a rough start to the season, the 25-year-old has settled down nicely, pitching to a 6-2 record and a 3.32 ERA.

Over his last seven starts, he’s 5-1 with a 1.12 WHIP, 46 strikeouts over 43 innings while giving up just 13 runs.

Can Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and the rest of the Yankees lineup give Yamamoto a rude welcome on Friday?

Tall task for Cody Poteet

On the other side of Friday’s matchup, the Yankees will send Cody Poteet to the mound. Poteet is in the rotation due to the injury to Clarke Schmidt and has pitched well for the Yankees this season, but he’ll face his toughest task against the Dodgers.

The Dodgers enter Friday ranked fourth in team batting average (.255) and fourth in home runs (79) so it’s a different breed of team from Poteet’s last two opponents.

In his first start — April 13 against the Guardians — Poteet pitched six inning of one-run ball. He had a similar outing on June 1 against the Giants when he gave up two runs on three hits in five innings of work.

While impressive, those teams are in the middle of the pack in terms of average and home runs so we’ll see if Poteet can navigate a lineup that includes Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman.

Can Yankees offense continue to roll if Soto misses time?

Speaking of offensive numbers, the Yankees are rolling right now. Heading into the three-game series, they rank third in team average (.256) and are first in home runs (92). A lot of that is thanks to Judge and Soto who are mashing the ball.

Judge leads MLB with 21 home runs and is second with 54 RBI while Soto is third with a .318 batting average. However, the lineup is going to face two pitchers who they don’t have a history against.

Unfortunately, Soto exited Thursday’s game with forearm discomfort and could miss time. If he does, how will this lineup respond? Without Soto, that means more time for Trent Grisham who has not hit since being traded to the Yankees. But he did drive in three runs in Thursday’s win.

Also, the Dodgers pitchers are a wild card in this weekend’s matchup.

This will be the first time anyone on the Yankees sees Yamamoto and Gavin Stone, Saturday’s starter, has only faced Grisham, Soto and Alex Verdugo in their careers. They are a combined 3-for-8 against him.

As for Sunday’s starter, Tyler Glasnow, he’s faced a lot of the Yankee lineup when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays. However, there’s not a lot of success against him.

Judge is 2-for-18 and Soto is 1-for-3. Giancarlo Stanton, however, is 4-for-15 with three home runs against him. The right-handed slugger could be the key to taking this series if it comes down to Sunday’s game.

Luis Gil’s domination

Luis Gil is arguably the Yankees’ best pitcher right now. At 8-1 and a 1.82 ERA, the 26-year-old rookie is the front-runner for Rookie of the Year. He’s slated to start Sunday’s game opposite Glasnow.

If Gil can continue his dominance against this impressive Dodgers team, any doubts about his skills will be quashed. Most of Los Angeles’ lineup does not have history with Gil, which could work to the Yankees’ advantage, but he’ll still need to be careful.

His last start — June 4 against the Twins — Gil pitched six shutout innings and gave up just one hit. In the month of May, he allowed three runs in 38.2 innings. Gil is close to solidifying his spot in this rotation even when Gerrit Cole and Schmidt return. A quality start on Sunday will go a long way towards that as well.