Dodgers' Jack Flaherty Will Start 2024 World Series Game 1 vs. Aaron Judge, Yankees

Right-handed pitcher Jack Flaherty will start for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday against the New York Yankees.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will then follow in Game 2, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register/Southern California Newspaper Group. Walker Buehler will start either Game 3 or 4, and there will also be a bullpen game in one of those matchups, per manager Dave Roberts.

Flaherty, who the Dodgers acquired from the Detroit Tigers right before the July 30 trade deadline, went 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA (1.28 WHIP) and 61 strikeouts in 55.1 regular-season innings (10 starts) for L.A. He's allowed 12 earned runs and 15 hits in 15.1 playoff innings (three starts) this year, striking out eight.

The 29-year-old will oppose Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. First pitch is set for Friday at 8:08 p.m. ET in Dodger Stadium.

Flaherty has endured an up-and-down postseason for L.A. In Game 2 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres, Flaherty allowed four earned runs in 5.1 innings, striking out two in a 10-2 loss.

But he bounced back strong in Game 1 against the New York Mets, shutting them out for seven frames while striking out six in a 9-0 win.

The Mets had Flaherty's number in Game 5, though, tagging him for eight earned runs in three innings in a 12-6 loss. Flaherty walked four and struck out none.

Flaherty is a force to be reckoned with at his best, as the Mets found out in Game 1 of the NLCS.

The key is whether Flaherty can find that form against the Yankees, who right now have two scorching-hot hitters in Giancarlo Stanton (MLB-high five playoff home runs) and Juan Soto, who sports a 1.106 OPS and just pushed his team to the World Series with a game-winning home run in Game 5 of the ALCS.

We'll find out soon enough as the Dodgers and Yankees get ready to face each other in the World Series for the 12th time in MLB history.