The Yankees and Dodgers are going to be facing each other in the World Series for the first time since 1981. Since neither LCS went seven games, there will be a few off-days before the World Series is scheduled to begin on Friday. Between now and then, both clubs will be assessing some injured players to see if they could act as reinforcements for the final stretch of the postseason.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters today that there’s “a decent chance” left-hander Nestor Cortes will be on the World Series roster. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic was among those to relay that info on X. As for the Dodgers, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was on SNLA last night and said there’s a chance both righty Brusdar Graterol and lefty Alex Vesia make the roster for the series, per Blake Harris on X.
Cortes landed on the injured list September 25 due to a flexor strain in his throwing elbow. He was shut down for about a week before starting to ramp up again, but hasn’t been on the Yankee roster for any of their postseason series so far.
Presumably, Cortes would be limited to a relief role in the World Series. He was largely working as a starter this year but has been out of action for about a month and has been throwing 10-15 pitch bullpen sessions lately.
The Yanks have had Tim Hill and Tim Mayza as their left-hander relief options of late. Both have been posting good results but in a low-strikeout, grounder-heavy fashion. Hill tossed 44 innings for the Yankees this year with a 2.05 earned run average, only striking out 10.4% of batters faced but with a massive 69.9% ground ball rate. His numbers in seven postseason appearances have been fairly similar: 1.59 ERA, 9.1% strikeout rate and 63.2% grounder rate.
Mayza tossed 18 innings for the Yankees this year with a flat ERA of 4.00. He struck out just 16.2% of batters faced but got grounders at a 55.4% clip. He has only been trusted to toss 1 1/3 innings in the playoffs thus far.
Cortes had a strikeout rate above 25% in each season from 2021 to 2023. That number dropped to 22.8% in 2024 but was still a solid mark. Pitchers can often rack up a few more Ks when moving from the rotation to the bullpen, throwing a little bit harder in shorter stints as opposed to pacing themselves for longer outings. Whether Cortes can do that or not might depend on his health, but if he’s in decent form, he should be expected to provide more punchouts than Hill or Mayza.
Vesia has made 232 regular-season appearances for the Dodgers in his career with a 2.89 ERA. His 11.5% walk rate is on the high side but he’s been able to offset that with a 32.3% strikeout rate. He’s been trusted enough to earn eight saves and 48 holds in that time.
He was on the Dodgers’ roster for the NLDS against the Padres but departed the final contest with an oblique/intercostal injury. He was left off the club’s NLCS roster but could potentially be back in the mix for the World Series. Anthony Banda is currently the only lefty option in the Dodger bullpen, so manager Dave Roberts would undoubtedly love to have Vesia back in the mix.
Graterol is more of a wild card as his 2024 has mostly been a lost season. He only made seven regular season appearances this year due to various injuries. He started the year on the IL due to both hip tightness and right shoulder inflammation, with the latter issue keeping him on the shelf until August. He made his season debut August 6 but left that outing with a right hamstring strain. He came off the IL in September and made six appearances that month but landed back on the IL in the final days of the season due to some more shoulder inflammation.
The on-and-off shoulder problems are concerning but the club might take a chance on him anyway. He’s been a key piece of their bullpen for years and was in good form as recently as 2023. He posted a 1.20 ERA over 68 appearances last year. His 18.7% strikeout rate was subpar but that’s always been his style. He limited walks to a 4.7% clip and kept batted balls on the ground 64.4% of the time.
bmp010
Hoping for a great 7 game series
Joe says...
Hoping the Yankees blow out the Dodgers in a four game sweep. Not gonna happen but that’s what I want.
MLB Top 100 Commenter
Dodgers in 6
YankeesWin
Yankee hater =}
johnsilver
I’ll believe Graterol is on the WS roster only when they are officially named. That said? Was upset years back when Boston got looney and removed him from the Betts deal and took that flop jeter downs then and posted at the time it was a big mistake. Injuries and all Graterol has been a lock down reliever when healthy and who knows what country downs is currently playing in.
CravenMoorehead
In his lone start against the Dodgers on June 8th this season Cortes’ line was:
5.1 IP
4 ER
2 HRs
1 BB
7 hits
4 Ks
82 pitches total
Obviously Nestor isn’t going to be starting and he was pitching fairly well since mid August prior to his injury so he could be a very welcome addition to the Yankees bullpen in this series. We shall see.
Swag Dad
I’d start Nestor or Stroman, bring Gil out the bullpen.
niel.marshal
If Vesia and Graterol are in, i prefer Landon Knack and Henriquez out and keep Honeywell
fox471 Dave
Absolutely! Henriquez is still an unknown and I have no idea what happened to Knack. His last outing was disturbing, to say the least.
Luis_Fazenda
One outing and he’s ready for the scrap heap? I no more consider one bad start to be a deciding factor to non-roster a capable arm, than I consider Buehler to be fully back after just one good outing.
mlbdodgerfan2015
Assuming both Graterol and Vesia are available, Henriquez should be first one replaced. Last one will be a tough call between Casparius, Knack and Honeywell.
highflyballintorightfield
Casperius is in. He was trusted in a bullpen game. Knack was too, with poor results, but he could easily take the mop-up role. It’s not as if Honeywell was that great.
Old York
hey’ll team up to form a legendary three-man pitching super-reliever—The Flexor Avengers!
McNasty1
WS is an absolute joke this year
YankeesWin
And exactly why is that? Because your team didn’t make it? Because you hate one or both of the teams that are in it? Those are the only answers. And all of them suggest that you’re extremely immature.
IsIt2025Already?
Everyone but Yankees and Dodgers fans hates both teams in the WS this year.
B-rocker
Grow up
TrotNixonIsMyHero
I understand the whole excessive payroll discussion and I am disappointed that my team has stopped spending even though they can but that’s life
However I don’t understand the hate towards this years World Series. How can any baseball lover not be excited by 4 of the best players in the game today playing against each other.
That part I’m looking forward to!
whyhayzee
Just like 1981. Pointless really.
B-rocker
After game 6 of the ‘81 Series at Yankee Stadium which the Dodgers won taking the championship, my wife and I hopped on a subway train to go home. As we got on the train we removed our Dodger jackets and stuffed them in our bags so as not to provoke any big bad Yankee fans. A Yankee fan sitting near us said “put your colors back on. You earned the right to celebrate.”
We did.
That’s one reason the 1981 Series mattered and why all World Series games matter. Because the highest level of competition can bring out the best in all of us.
If you don’t get that I feel sorry for you.
Steinbrenner2728
whyhayzee is a known Red Sox fan and Yankee grifter… I feel sorry for him already
toycannon
Best record in each league advanced to World Series. When is the last time that happened?
IsIt2025Already?
Least interesting World Series ever.
B-rocker
Aww did your team lose? A mature reaction.
FOmeOLS
Come on, giant meteor!
Lindor's Bodyguard
Sasquatch would like a word with you!
mlbnyyfan
Let’s go Yankees!!!! Add Cortes and Poteet to the roster. Desperately need more pitching. Yankees under dogs first time since 1996. We all know how that series went. Atlanta had the best starting pitchers in baseball. I like my teams chances. It won’t be easy but I like my teams chances.
YankeesBleacherCreature
It’ll be the same roster except for Nestor for Tim Mayza.