INSIDERS SAY YANKEES ARE WORLD SERIES "UNDERDOGS," BUT ARE THEY?!

Is it Friday yet? I feel like I have done nothing but talk about the Yankees and the World Series since Saturday. My husband is already taunting me and predicting Dodgers in 6, and he's not the only one who predicts the Dodgers to win it all. The Yankees have been called the underdog.... but are they? Can Aaron Boone FINALLY get a World Series win?

The Dodgers are favored to win, (read more HERE) and I'm okay with that because I like being the underdog. This is NOT going to be easy, folks. Yeah, it feels good to be American League Champions, and we should be enjoying our momentum, but the Dodgers won't be any walk in the park. You can't compare  the Guardians with the Dodgers. The Guardians were good....the Dodgers are dangerous. 

But dangerous doesn't mean unbeatable. I'm not a big fan of the extended time off before the series starts but, this is where the best of the best rise to the occasion. The Yankees can continue to ride that momentum, practice their plate discipline and put balls in play. It can happen, it just won't be easy.
Both teams have their strengths, and now we will get to see exactly what happens when a hard hitting offense battles a deeper pitching staff. Does pitching win baseball games? The Yankees will have to prove that.

There's no denying how strong the Dodgers offense is. As good as the Yankees have been in the postseason, the Dodgers have been just as good if not better. Their lineup is deep and they know how to do damage. We all know Shohei Ohtani is one of the best in the game and can hit home runs and rack up RBI's and stolen bases. The top of the Dodgers batting order is as scary as it gets. The Yankees will have to find a way to limit the damage and pitch smart. It all starts with Gerrit Cole, he sets the tone.

There's also no denying that the Yankees have a deeper pitching staff than the Dodgers do. The Dodgers are riddled with injuries to their pitching staff and it has been their biggest weakness. The Yankees have a full arsenal of starters, while the Dodgers needed to rely on bullpen games against both the Padres (1 game) and the Mets (2 games). That is taxing on any team, and looking ahead at the schedule they will likely need at least one bullpen game this go around. For once, the Yankees are healthy and have that as an advantage. So they need to make the most of it.

Let's not kid ourselves, it's the end of October and it's been a long season. As healthy as we are, no one is feeling 100% this time of the year. The Yankees have one advantage with pitching, and on paper they look stronger....but this game isn't played on paper.

We're about to see who wants this more....and it better be the Yankees.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj