Sports
New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers: Can They Finish What They Started?
Jun 8, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) rounds third base and scores on an double by first baseman Freddie Freeman (not pictured) during the ninth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images It will be New York vs. Los Angeles, Aaron Judge vs. Shohei Ohtani, the best team in the American League against the top one in the National League when a must-see World Series begins Friday on the West Coast.
This October collision course seemed inevitable way back in May, but when do early-season World Series projections ever come to pass?
In the end, it will be the top two teams in baseball from the top two markets in the country with a pair of sure-fire MVPs battling it out for a title.
Here is how both teams got here and three keys to finish off what they started:
New York Yankees
Sep 6, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Luis Gil (81) delivers a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images The Yankees bolted from the gate with the best pitching staff in baseball to automatically set them up as a World Series favorite since their offense also consisted of Judge, Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton.
By the second week of May, the Yankees had a major league-best 2.86 ERA and the third-best ERA in baseball from their starters at 2.95. Making it all the more incredible is that the inspired performances were coming from a staff without an injured Gerrit Cole.
Coming off Tommy John surgery and with just seven big league starts to his credit, Luis Gil opened the season 8-1 with a 1.82 ERA after eight starts. Cole returned from an elbow injury on June 19, wobbled a bit at first, then reeled off a 1.58 ERA in seven starts for the start of August through Sept. 8.
Judge’s MVP march found its stride with 14 home runs, 27 RBIs and a 1.397 OPS in May. He had at least a 1.000 OPS in every month this season except for the first one. Soto had 41 home runs and 109 RBIs in his first season in the Bronx, showing that no task is too tall.
Three Yankees keys to winning the World Series:
Power is king for the Yankees, and backbreaking home runs are their specialty. Judge’s 58 in the regular season were more than anybody, while Stanton’s five in the postseason lead anybody on either team. And it was Soto who had the biggest long ball of all when his home run clinched the ALCS over the Guardians. Dodgers pitching, meanwhile, gave up 120 home runs, eighth worst in baseball and one more than the 121-loss Chicago White Sox.
Comparatively speaking, the Yankees are the picture of stability when it comes to their starting rotation. Cole, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Gil will handle the starting duties all the way through Game 7. But eating innings is not as vital in the postseason as quality ones. If the Yankees can get six-inning starts on the regular, the bullpen figures to be in good shape to take care of the rest.
Neutralizing Ohtani is easier said than done, but he has looked like a mere mortal for stretches in this postseason. The Padres pitched Ohtani up-and-in, then down-and-in in the NLDS, holding the LA star to two hits in 15 at-bats in the final four games of the series. And Ohtani had an 0-for-22 run this postseason without a runner on base. Slowing Ohtani slows down the Dodgers.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Sep 16, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (18) throws against the Atlanta Braves in the third inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Just the frequency of injuries alone should have knocked the Dodgers off stride this season, let alone the injuries to their high-level talent. Ohtani has been available every day, but just about everybody else has missed significant time, from Betts to Max Muncy and Freddie Freeman with his current sprained ankle.
On the pitching side, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Emmitt Sheehan, and standout rookie Gavin Stone are all out for the postseason.
Of the three starters still standing, Jack Flaherty didn’t join the club until late July, Yoshinobu Yamamoto missed three months with a shoulder injury, and Walker Buehler didn’t return until May after two years away following a second Tommy John surgery. Then he missed two more months with a hip injury.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spent much of his time addressing what was going wrong, and yet the team was never out of first place this season while holding off two of the second half’s hottest teams, the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Three Dodgers keys to winning the World Series:
On a one-year deal this season, an inspired Teoscar Hernandez has been as valuable as anybody outside of Ohtani. But he inexplicably disappeared in the NLCS when he was overpowered by fastballs. The Home Run Derby champ hit 33 of them in the regular season, and while the top three players from each team battle it out, Hernandez can end up being the best of the rest.
The call to fire Roberts gets louder each year in a sad refrain that, perhaps, comes with the territory when sitting in the hot seat of a club loaded with talent. Yet Roberts is having his finest season, all leading to a master class in managing this postseason while navigating three bullpen games, with victories coming in two: one to keep the season alive in the NLDS and one to clinch the NLCS.
It has been a long season for Freddie Freeman, who took time off as his young son worked his way back from a serious illness. Then came his sprained right ankle on the late-September night the Dodgers clinched the NL West for the 11th time in 12 years. Freeman said he is good to go for Game 1 and his production will be key after he already missed three games this postseason and has just one hit in his last 15 playoff at-bats.
Sports
2026 Rocket Classic: Preview, Props, Best Bets
Jake Knapp’s 61 in the second round in 2025 is the lowest 18-hole score in the history of the Rocket Classic. Twenty-one of the top 50 players in the FedEx Cup standings are in Detroit for this week’s Rocket Classic, which is the penultimate regular-season event before the start of the playoffs.
It’s a critical two-week stretch for those attempting to secure spots in the playoff opener. Our golf experts preview the event and provide their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.
ROCKET CLASSIC
Location: Detroit, July 30-Aug. 2
Course: Detroit Golf Club (Par 70, 7,328 Yards)
Purse: $10M (Winner: $1.8M)
Defending Champion: Aldrich Potgieter
FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS, Paramount+)
Streaming: Thursday-Friday: 7 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. (ESPN+)
X: @RocketClassic
PROP PICKS
–Jake Knapp Top 10 After Round 1 (+400 at BetMGM): Knapp has the ability to go very low — it’s just a matter of pegging when that’s going to happen for one of the tour’s streakier players. He closed with a 62 last week and owns the lowest 18-hole score in tournament history with his 61 in last year’s second round.
–Ben Kohles Top 20 Finish (+275 at BetRivers): Kohles has rocketed up — pun intended — to 97th in the FedEx Cup standings with four consecutive top-25 finishes. That includes a solo ninth last week and a T3 at the John Deere earlier this month.
–Hideki Matsuyama to Beat Patrick Cantlay (+105 at DraftKings): Cantlay is the -138 favorite in this tournament matchup, but has missed two of his past four cuts and hasn’t finished better than T17 in his past six starts overall. Matsuyama climbed five spots to No. 25 in the world rankings with his T3 last week — going 65-65-64 after his opening 70 — and has three consecutive top-15 finishes. He also finished T13 here last year while Cantlay was T32.
BEST BETS
–Cameron Young (+1100 at BetMGM) is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 3 and is coming off a solo second at The Open.
–Xander Schauffele (+1800) is seeking his first win of the year and doesn’t have a top-10 since the PGA Championship. He is making his event debut.
–Chris Gotterup (+1800) already owns three victories this year, including the John Deere Classic earlier this month.
–Jackson Koivun (+2000) claimed his maiden tour victory last week just 24 days after turning professional.
–Si Woo Kim (+2200) enters with consecutive top-10s, including a T6 at The Open.
–Wyndham Clark (+2200) has a pair of wins this year, including the U.S. Open. In four previous event starts he has a best finish of T8 in 2022.
–Jake Knapp (+2800) is recovered from a nagging thumb injury and has a history of going low on this course. He finished T4 last year, going 61-66-68 after opening with a 72.
NOTES
–The top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings after next week’s Wyndham Championship will qualify for the first playoff event at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Koivun is No. 70 currently, followed by Andrew Putnam, Mac Meissner, Johnny Keefer, Jason Day and Austin Smotherman.
–The Detroit Golf Club underwent a $16.1 million renovation since last year. The course will play to a par 70, down from a par 72 in previous years, with Nos. 7 and 17 now playing as par-4s.
–Rickie Fowler’s most recent PGA Tour victory came in this event three years ago.
–Brooks Koepka is making his tournament debut. His best finish in 15 starts this season was a T9 at the Cognizant Classic.
–Cam Davis (2021, ’24) is the only two-time winner in tournament history.
–Matsuyama has the longest current active streak on tour with 29 consecutive made cuts.
–Potgieter is seeking to become the first player to successfully defend his title at the event, but has missed three of his past four cuts.
–Sponsor exemptions include Good Good content creator Brad Dalke, Detroit native Joe Hooks, Alabama sophomore William Jennings and YouTube star Ryan Ruffels.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Nuggets offer Peyton Watson 5-year, $70M deal
Jan 22, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson (8) attempts a dunk over Washington Wizards guard Tre Johnson (12) during the second half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images The Denver Nuggets have offered restricted free agent Peyton Watson a five-year, $70 million contract, The Athletic reported Tuesday.
The Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Clippers have expressed interest in acquiring the 23-year-old forward in sign-and-trade deals, per the report.
Watson averaged a career-high 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists and shot 41.1% from 3-point range in 54 games (40 starts) in 2025-26, his fourth season with the Nuggets.
He has averaged 8.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in 225 career games (64 starts) since being acquired at the 2022 NBA Draft from the Oklahoma City Thunder, who picked him 30th overall.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Draymond Green returns to Warriors on $27.7M deal
Mar 21, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) reacts to a call against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Veteran forward Draymond Green has agreed to a one-year, $27.7 million contract to remain with the Golden State Warriors.
Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul confirmed the details of his client’s deal to ESPN on Tuesday. The deal does not include a no-trade clause, per ESPN.
It is just $100,000 more than the salary Green opted out of earlier this summer to give Golden State the financial flexibility to pursue LeBron James, who signed with the Philadelphia 76ers instead.
Green, 36, is a four-time All-Star and four-time champion who will be entering his 15th season with the Warriors in 2026-27. The nine-time All-Defensive team member was the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2016-17.
Green averaged 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 68 games (all starts) in 2025-26. He owns career averages of 8.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 949 games (794 starts) since Golden State drafted him in the second round in 2012.
–Field Level Media
2026 Rocket Classic: Preview, Props, Best Bets
Report: Nuggets offer Peyton Watson 5-year, $70M deal
