The Los Angeles Dodgers will try to become the National League’s first club to win three consecutive World Series titles this October.
Once again, they are the heavy favorites.
It helps to have a lineup filled with former MVPs and All-Stars, and their starting rotation is undoubtedly top three in the Majors.
Speaking of the Dodgers’ rotation, manager Dave Roberts has a problem on his hands for Game 1 of the NLDS. Truthfully, it’s a good issue for Roberts to have.
Los Angeles could appoint Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Tarik Skubal as its Game 1 starter, but does it really matter which ace Roberts selects?
Why Yamamoto could start Game 1 over Skubal
“The Dodgers traded for Tarik Skubal, winner of the last two AL Cy Young Awards, and yet it would surprise no one if Yamamoto were their choice for Game 1 of their first playoff series,” ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez wrote. “He has cemented himself as the ace of this Dodgers’ staff.”
Yamamoto won last year’s World Series MVP, recording the final eight outs in Game 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays. He accomplished the feat on zero days’ rest.
Meanwhile, there’s a strong chance that Skubal would be the No. 1 starter for every other playoff team.
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Jacob Misiorowski, Critopher Sanchez, and Cam Schlittler may be the only other starters who could receive the nod over Skubal. But that’s no guarantee.
“And though he won’t win the Cy Young in a year in which Misiorowski and Sanchez have been so dominant, the thought by many is that Yamamoto eventually becoming the first Japanese-born pitcher to win the award is an inevitability,” Gonzalez wrote. “We are watching a master craftsman at the peak of his powers.”
The Dodgers have a win-win situation with their Yamamoto and Skubal decision. Not to mention, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow round out their top four starters.
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