By Fabian Ardaya, Chris Kirschner and Eno Sarris

In October it's Yankees vs. Dodgers. 'Nuff said.

Our writers take a look at a World Series matchup between two of baseball's most storied franchises with no shortage of star power and storylines.

Playtimes

Game 1: Yankees at Dodgers, Friday, October 25, time to be announced, Fox

Game 2: Yankees at Dodgers, Saturday, October 26, time to be announced, Fox

Game 3: Dodgers at Yankees, Monday, October 28, time to be announced, Fox

Game 4: Dodgers at Yankees, Tuesday, October 29, time to be announced, Fox

Game 5: Dodgers at Yankees, Wednesday, October 30, time to be announced, Fox (if necessary)

Game 6: Yankees at Dodgers, Friday, November 1st, time to be announced, Fox (if necessary)

Game 7: Yankees at Dodgers, Saturday, November 2nd, time to be announced, Fox (if necessary)

Pitching matches

In a battle of giants that features perhaps the two best teams of the regular season (and two of the richest), it might be surprising to say that this World Series probably won't be about the guns. However, research has shown that offense may be a team's most important postseason strength, and these two pitching staffs were in no way among the top five units of the regular season.

These are two of the best offenses in baseball going up against two pitching staffs that are just trying to find ways to make things work. On the New York side, there is at least some good news regarding rotation. Gerrit Cole shows his best pace of the season, if not his old command. Carlos Rodón has top-notch stuff and suddenly looks like Andy Pettitte after a session with the legendary Yankees left-hander. Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil represent more depth than the Dodgers in this regard.

In the Yankees' bullpen, Tommy Kahnle's all-change-up approach is working, Clay Holmes has been good if not great, and Luke Weaver and his revamped arsenal have been (mostly) great. Funky Jake Cousins ​​has met or beaten everyone and could end up being a Joker.

This bullpen falls short compared to a Dodger pen that showed the strength it did in the regular season when it had 15 overperforming relievers. Daniel Hudson, Anthony Banda, Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia have combined to throw 32 postseason innings with just three earned runs allowed – and all of those runs came in Game 6 of the NLCS, at which point the Mets have done this and have seen their stuff repeated in the series.

Jack Flaherty's velocity had declined in his last two starts. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler had good performances in their last starts, but the conditions may have been ideal for them. How many times can they face the middle of the Yankees lineup before giving way to the bullpen? And how many times will these great hitters in pinstripes go up against the Dodgers pen before they find out?

It's a race with 108 outs and four wins. The longer this series lasts, the more it favors the better lineup – because these hitters will see every starter and every reliever on the other side multiple times. This means that mass still matters. As these two pitching staffs work their way to the end, the Yankees have better bulk options and a slight advantage on the mound. – Sarris

Why the Dodgers will win

Their offense is dynamic and just contributed to the fourth-highest run differential in a postseason series, with the kind of patience that strains even the deepest starting lineups and plenty of hitting power from Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts all the way down to Max Muncy, Will Smith and NLCS MVP Tommy Edman (the latter two combined for six runs in Sunday's NLCS matchup). Their injuries have certainly taken their toll: It's hard to imagine how different this path would have looked for the Dodgers if Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May or any number of their injured starters had been available this postseason. But they still managed to survive, with a dominant (albeit heavily used) bullpen that has produced great seasons for two established veterans, Blake Treinen and Daniel Hudson, who they are paying a combined $3 million this year.

The hope is also that the five days off between the end of the NLCS and the start of the World Series will allow the Dodgers to get more out of Freddie Freeman, who suffered a severe right ankle sprain in October. –Ardaya

Why the Yankees will win

The Yankees will play their most complete baseball game of the season in October.

After being their biggest weakness for most of the regular season, the bullpen emerged as a strength from mid-September through October. Kahnle has yet to allow a pass in six appearances; Weaver has 12 strikeouts in eight appearances; and Tim Hill has emerged as a powerful backup who could potentially neutralize Los Angeles' lefties, particularly Ohtani. They could also bring starting pitcher Nestor Cortes, who missed the first two rounds of the playoffs with a flexor muscle strain, into the bullpen for the World Series.

There is immense star talent in this series and Juan Soto lived up to expectations. He hit the go-ahead home run in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the ALCS, sending the Yankees to the World Series. In nine postseason games, Soto has a wRC+ of 203. The lineup as a whole has been dangerous, even if Aaron Judge hasn't yet reached his usual level. Soto and Gleyber Torres set the tone at the top of the lineup, combining for just three outs in the first inning of the Yankees' nine games in October.

If those two, along with Giancarlo Stanton, can continue to produce and Judge can break through, the Yankees will be a difficult matchup for the Dodgers. – Kirschner

Check back later for World Series predictions The athlete's MLB staff.

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Because of this, Ohtani signed with the Dodgers to be able to play well into October for the first time in his career. He has an OPS of .934 in two postseason runs, including two home runs, and an OPS of 1.185 against a Mets team that couldn't find a consistent answer for him. In a field full of superstars, Ohtani might be the best (though not literally, at least compared to Judge). Few players in the sport have the ability to change the world with their finger, something Ohtani did frequently in the first summer of his record-breaking, 10-year, $700 million contract. –Ardaya

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Stanton gets into these zones several times a season, where he can drive the Yankees' offense on his own. He's currently experiencing one of his patented hot streaks. In nine postseason games, Stanton hit five home runs, including four against the Guardians that earned him ALCS MVP honors. Anything in the attack zone will fire Stanton. Now he will play in his first World Series against a franchise he grew up supporting in Los Angeles.

Bigger picture for Stanton: A possible World Series title (and perhaps an MVP award) would add to his growing Hall of Fame status. If he continues at his current pace, Stanton will finish his career with over 500 home runs. Injuries have slowed him down and made him one-dimensional in recent seasons, but reaching the 500-homer mark (without suspicion of performance-enhancing drugs) was seen as a guaranteed pass for Cooperstown. – Kirschner

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(Top image: Aaron Judge: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images; Shohei Ohtani: Daniel Shirey / MLB Photos via Getty Images)