MLB - The 2024 World Series matchup is set, and it will be a star-studded showdown between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.

After the Yankees put away the Cleveland Guardians on Juan Soto’s extra-innings home run in Game 5 of the ALCS on Saturday night, the Dodgers finished off the New York Mets with a Game 6 win in the NLCS on Sunday.

What carried New York and Los Angeles this far and will it continue to work in the Fall Classic? What can we expect from Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani? And which other stars must shine for each team to win? What is the No. 1 factor that has carried the Yankees to the World Series?

The Yankees, in particular the top four hitters in their lineup, have made pitchers work. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt succinctly described the challenge before Game 5 of the ALCS: They’re on the fastball, and they don’t chase. The Yankees are averaging four pitches per plate appearance in the playoffs. They are drawing walks at a high clip. The constant traffic creates constant pressure. The Yankees have an AL-best .347 on-base percentage and are walking in a staggering 13.9% of plate appearances. Walks are up across the board in the postseason -- the playoffs-wide walk rate is 9.9%, compared to 8.2% in the regular season but among their nine regulars, seven Yankees are walking at least 11.1% of the time. What’s especially impressive is their on-base percentage to lead off innings: .450.

Why will -- or won’t it continue against the Dodgers?

Like the Guardians, the Dodgers have relied heavily on their bullpen in the postseason. Their three starters -- Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler -- have had uneven postseasons. They have combined to make eight playoff starts. Four of those starts have lasted fewer than five innings. Add in at least one bullpen game, if not two, over the course of the series, and the Yankees have the recipe to grind the Dodgers’ pitching staff down. The key to the series might be the walks department, either because one team does a better job of preventing them or does a better job of capitalizing on them in the form of big home runs. Los Angeles’ advantage early in the series is that it will be able to give the Yankees plenty of different looks among its array of bullpen arms. If the Yankees weather those early games, the familiarity penalty could work in favor of New York’s offense later in the series. (This goes both ways, to be clear.)

It has been an up-anddown postseason for Aaron Judge. What should we expect to see from him in the World Series?

Judge hasn’t been MVP Judge in the postseason. Going 5-for-31 with 13 strikeouts isn’t ideal. But he has been productive. It’s always eventually going to be up with Judge. Even as he “struggles” this postseason, he has still been a near-average producer, with a wRC+ of 94.

What is the No. 1 factor that has carried the Dodgers to the World Series?

Their offensive approach. It sounds a whole lot easier than it actually is, of course. And the Dodgers’ hitters were as good as any throughout the year at luring opposing pitchers into their desired nitro zones, a skillset they used expertly against Jose Quintana -- the New York Mets left-hander who thrived all year at getting chase -- during their 10-run onslaught in NLCS Game 4. The Dodgers’ pitching continues to be a concern, but their lineup -- even with a hobbled Freddie Freeman -- has the depth and talent to carry them through every October round. And when they’re stubborn in their zone, they can seem unbeatable.

Shohei Ohtani impacts games in ways no other player can right now.

Why will -- or won’t it continue against the Yankees?

Because if there’s one team better than the Dodgers at not chasing outside the strike zone and being aggressive within it, it’s, you guessed it, the Yankees. And New York’s lineup seems exponentially more challenging to navigate with Gleyber Torres consistently getting on base from the leadoff spot and Giancarlo Stanton continually crushing big homers behind Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. But it goes without saying that they’re nonetheless going to need their threeman staff of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler to be effective. That was a tough task against the Mets. It will be exceedingly difficult against the Yankees.

Which other player is most crucial to the Dodgers’ chances in this series?

Jack Flaherty. He’ll probably get Game 1 because he can come back on the traditional four days’ rest to pitch again in Game 5 (if Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts Game 1, the Dodgers would be forced to stage two bullpen days within the first five games because Yamamoto requires five days of rest). Flaherty pitched seven scoreless innings in Game 1 of the NLCS but got roughed up in a Game 5 start in which he threw with a diminished fastball. The Dodgers desperately need Flaherty to recapture the life of that pitch. It’s hard to see them winning a championship without him being effective.

Game one will be played tonight at 7 p.m. on FOX.