The complete Dodgers checklist for taking down the Yankees in the World Series

The 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers have finally broken the cycle of choking. After three early exits in the postseason due to starting pitching meltdowns and the complete inability to hit with runners in scoring position, the Dodgers have made it back to the World Series for the first time since 2020. But since the beginning of the season, the Dodgers have reiterated that anything short of winning the World Series in 2024 would be considered a failure.

L.A. only has four wins left to achieve that ultimate goal, but the Yankees are an opponent that will cause a lot more problems for the Dodgers than the either Padres or the Mets did. The Dodgers mashed their way through both the NLDS and NLCS, but the Yankees have a much more balanced pitching staff than the Mets did and could cause some problems for L.A.

In order to flip the script and continue their dominance, the Dodgers need to check off these four items. If all four are accomplished, they'll probably win the Fall Classic.

4 keys for Dodgers to defeat Yankees in 2024 World Series

1. Beat Gerrit Cole in Game 1

It seems obvious, but whoever wins Game 1 of this series in particular will have a massive advantage over the other team, given the pitching staffs of both squads. Although the Yankees didn't have to rely on Cole to finish off the Guardians in the ALCS, the Dodgers are going to face Cole at least twice in the World Series (pending a sweep).

Cole has pitched on a schedule of getting four days of rest in his three postseason starts so far, and staying on that schedule would line him up for Games 1 and 5 of the World Series. If the series goes the distance, L.A. could see Cole on two days' rest out of the bullpen in Game 7.

But knowing that Cole is going to pitch Games 1 and 5 and Carlos Rodón is likely to pitch Games 2 and 6, the Dodgers can't rely on just beating the other Yankees starters to win the series. L.A. has to beat Cole and/or Rodón at least once (and will probably need to beat both of them) to win the series. There is no way to seize control of this series better than winning Game 1, especially considering the home-field advantage the Dodgers have. Taking an early-series advantage, while beating Cole in the process, would give the Dodgers a weightier victory than a typical 1-0 series lead.

2. Keep hitting with RISP

2021, 2022, and 2023 all had one common thread: the Dodgers not hitting well with runners in scoring position. The 2024 Dodgers, thanks in large part to new additions Tommy Edman and Shohei Ohtani, have flipped that script. Ohtani's numbers with runners on speak for themselves, and Edman has the NLCS MVP hardware (and four RBI in the series-clinching game) to prove why these Dodgers have been different. Simply put, this team doesn't have the same clutch issues as the teams of the past.

But the ghosts of the past can still haunt the present team. There is absolutely no guarantee that the Dodgers are going to take four days off and immediately return to the same offensive form they were in during the NLCS. The Mets had come up with clutch moment after clutch moment all autumn long, from their game against the Braves to clinch a playoff spot all the way until the NLCS started, but the energy of their season fizzled out as soon as they failed to capitalize on opportunities against the Dodgers in Games 1, 3, and 4. The Dodgers can't let the same thing happen to them when the lights are their brightest.

3. Get production from the middle of the order

The Dodgers were able to survive against the Mets despite Will Smith, Teoscar Hernández, and Freddie Freeman combining to go 9-for-62 (.145 AVG) with only one extra base hit and 17 strikeouts. 15 of the Dodgers' 44 RBI came from Ohtani and Mookie Betts, but only because the bottom of the order was so successful at rolling over the lineup to Ohtani and Betts. Relying on Ohtani and Betts to produce is a formula that will lead to success, but the guys behind them need to bring them in as well.

The solution to that problem emerged as Edman was moved up more and more in the lineup. Edman hit fourth or fifth in the lineup in each of the Dodgers' last three games against the Mets, and he had multi-hit games in each of the three, gathering seven of his 11 RBI in those games. In total, three players (Ohtani, Betts, and Edman) accounted for 59% (26 of 44) of the Dodgers' RBI in the NLCS. The Dodgers might keep Edman in the middle of the lineup as long as he stays hot, but Smith, Freeman, and Hernández are going to need to contribute for the Dodgers to beat the Yankees.

4. Get more length from starters

Starting pitching will always be a point of emphasis in the postseason, especially given the Dodgers' recent struggles with that exact part of the roster. The Dodgers got by the Mets relying a ton on the bullpen usage to pick up the slack from the starters. Jack Flaherty pitched 10.0 innings combined over his two starts, but the three pitchers who pitched the most behind Flaherty? Brent Honeywell Jr. (7.2 IP), and Blake Treinen, Ben Casparius, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (all 4.1 IP).

Not to be Captain Obvious, but as important as Honeywell Jr. and Casparius getting outs (to varying degrees of success) were for the Dodgers, they need more from their starters.

Yamamoto only went 4.1 innings in his lone NLCS start, Walker Buehler went 4.0 innings in his NLCS start and even in Flaherty's second start, he only covered 3.0 innings. That formula just isn't sustainable in a closer series that might go the distance. As such, it is imperative that the Dodgers get length from their starters. Many Dodger fans felt like L.A. threw two games away last series: Game 2, when no one yanked Landon Knack, and Game 5, when Jack Flaherty languished. Those are mistakes that can't be repeated with the World Series on the line. L.A. needs to be aggressive in leaning on its strength - the bullpen - but it can only do so if the three trusted starters the Dodgers do have (Yamamoto, Flaherty, and Buehler) are able to get deeper into games than they did in the NLCS.