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The Padres and Mets had a chance to take advantage of the Dodgers’ lack of starting pitching depth, but they couldn’t finish the job. Is Game 4 the Yankees’ best chance to expose Los Angeles’ greatest vulnerability?
The Dodgers’ rotation options entering Game 4 are limited, with Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto still not on full rest and Walker Buehler having pitched in Game 3. For the Yankees, the choice is a bit clearer.
Nevertheless, the pressure is on New York to pounce on Dodgers pitching and turn the World Series around.
Here’s a look at the starting pitchers for Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday.
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Yankees-Dodgers Game 4 starting pitchers
Luis Gil will get the ball for the Yankees in Game 4, while the Dodgers will have a bullpen game and have not yet named a starting pitcher.
Gil spent the 2024 season as a prime AL Rookie of the Year candidate despite throwing just 25.2 innings between the majors and minor leagues over the previous two seasons. The 26-year-old wasn’t even expected to be in the Yankees’ rotation this season, but Gerrit Cole’s early-season elbow injury opened up a role for Gil and the rookie took advantage.
The second half of the year wasn’t as smooth for Gil, who had a brief IL stint due to a lower back strain and wasn’t quite as consistent when he did return, but the Yankees put the ball in Gil’s hands for Game 4 of the ALCS and are putting their faith in him at home this time around.
The Dodgers have only three healthy starters they’re comfortable using, so they’ve had to turn to bullpen games three times already this postseason. The results have been mixed. Los Angeles’ bullpen shut out the Padres in an elimination scenario in the NLDS, but the Mets took full advantage of the ‘pen in Game 2 of the NLCS. The Dodgers’ bullpen allowed five runs on 11 hits in Game 6 against New York, but they still got the win and advanced.
Ryan Brasier served as the opener for two of the Dodgers’ playoff bullpen games, while Michael Kopech started the other.
Luis Gil stats
| Starts | W-L | IP | ERA | WHIP | K | K/9 |
| 29 | 15-7 | 151.2 | 3.50 | 1.19 | 171 | 10.1 |
Gil was one of the best pitchers in baseball through mid-June, as he carried a 2.03 ERA and 3.08 FIP through his first 14 starts. He wasn’t quite the same pitcher the rest of the way, posting a 5.15 ERA over his final 15 starts, but he showed flashes of excellence after returning from the IL including a six-inning, one-hit outing against the Cubs in September.
Gil allowed two earned runs on three hits in his ALCS start against the Guardians, walking three batters in a choppy performance. With the pressure squarely on the Yankees, Gil will hope to be more efficient against a powerful Dodgers lineup in Game 4.
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Luis Gil vs. Shohei Ohtani stats
| AVG | .000 |
| H-AB | 0-3 |
| HR | 0 |
| RBI | 0 |
| BB | 0 |
| OPS | .000 |
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-3 in his only career game against Gil, coming this past June at Yankee Stadium. None of the three plate appearances ended in a strikeout, however.
Gil didn’t have his best start against the Dodgers, allowing three earned runs over 5.2 innings, but he only walked one batter and handled Ohtani well. The Yankees would get the win after hanging five runs on Tyler Glasnow.
Dodgers bullpen stats
| IP | ERA | FIP | BB/9 | K/9 |
| 648.0 | 3.53 | 4.05 | 3.2 | 8.7 |
The Dodgers’ bullpen wasn’t perfect in 2024, but it still ranked above average in many categories and has had no shortage of clutch moments in the postseason.
The ‘pen ranked fourth in ERA but 21st in FIP during the regular season, indicating strong Dodgers defense was a major factor in the unit’s success. Los Angeles relievers were 21st in strikeout rate and 13th in walk rate in 2024, indicating the group as a whole was closer to the middle of the pack than its ERA indicates.
The postseason is a different animal, and that could work two ways. On one hand, the pressure of pitching in high-leverage moments on the road in the World Series could impact pitchers much differently than a typical regular season game can. On the other hand, Dave Roberts will use only his best arms and try to work the matchups to his advantage as much as possible with all hands on deck.