3 Dark Horse candidates to win World Series MVP for Yankees, Dodgers

The World Series begins today, with some of the game's preeminent superstars taking center stage in a clash that's been 40 years in the making.

Obviously, fans will come out in droves (both at home and in the stands) to see the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge do battle for the most coveted trophy in baseball. As the holders of the last three American League MVP trophies—and Judge is all but certain to claim it again this year, while Ohtani will claim his first NL MVP award—they're the prohibitive favorites to take home the World Series edition of the honor.

However, both of those generational superstars are flanked by some of the game's best sidekicks, including former MVP Mookie Betts on Ohtani's side and baseball's best hitter, Juan Soto, on Judge's. Both the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees also come equipped with staff aces—Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Gerrit Cole, respectively—that could make a reasonable run at the World Series MVP trophy with a couple of dominant outings.

In the NLCS and ALCS, it was Tommy Edman and Giancarlo Stanton who came out on top despite a lower billing relative to their star teammates. Beyond the established players, who else on these loaded rosters warrants consideration for the highest honor in the sport?

Los Angeles Dodgers

Teoscar Hernández

The 2024 Home Run Derby champion was brilliant in the NLDS, hitting two momentous home runs and finishing with an impressive .333/.400/.667 slash line that probably would have won him MVP for that series if such an award existed.

Hernández cooled down a lot in the NLCS, notching just two hits in 22 at-bats, both of which were singles. He struck out multiple times in four out of the series' six games. It's a little paradigmatic of his career in recent years, with jaw-dropping power output and blistering hot streaks sandwiched between strikeout-heavy slumps.

The Yankees only have one lefty starter, Carlos Rodón, that Hernández can tee off on, though his OPS against right-handers this year (.808) was still well above-average, even if it fell short of his usual dominance aginst left-handed pitchers (.931 OPS). He's far from a sure thing, and his NLCS performance leaves a lot to be desired, but if he gets on a hot streak at the plate, Hernández is as good of a hitter as anyone in the world.

Enrique Hernández

The man affectionately known as Kiké has been on a tear this entire postseason, racking up four multi-hit games and posting an OPS of .863.

His defensive versatility (he's played second base, third base, and center field this postseason) means he'll find his way into manager Dave Roberts' lineup more often than not, and he should have the luxury of hitting behind Ohtani, Betts, Edman, and others in the World Series, putting him in prime position to drive in plenty of runs.

However, the real reason to buy into his World Series MVP candidacy stems from his dominance against the Yankees' top two starters: Enrique Hernández is batting .368 with four extra-base hits in 19 at-bats against Cole, and he's three-for-six with three home runs against Rodón. He should see plenty of them in a best-of-seven series.

Walker Buehler

It might seem bold to put a guy who accumulated a -1.2 WAR in the regular season on a list like this, though Buehler has proven capable of shutting down opposing lineups this postseason, including his shutout performance in four innings in Game 3 of the NLCS.

Of course, Buehler's other start this October wasn't nearly as pretty, as he surrendered six earned runs in just five innings in Game 3 of the NLDS. His whole season has been topsy-turvy, oscillating between near-perfect starts and walk-riddled blunders.

His candidacy is as much about opportunity as anything. Assuming the Dodgers follow the same rotation schedule they've used in the first two rounds of their playoff run, Buehler will be lined up to start Game 3 of the World Series... and Game 7, if the series makes it that far. Though he'd need two brilliant starts to warrant consideration for the MVP trophy, if he delivers a memorable Game 7 performance for the winning team, he'll have a tough case to beat.

New York Yankees

Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Chisholm turned his season around the moment he was traded to New York from the Miami Marlins, totaling up a 130 OPS+ in pinstripes compared to his 97 OPS+ in South Beach (for the uninitiated: OPS+ is a relative metric where 100 is league average; according to it, Chisholm was 30% better than the average hitter with the Yankees in 2024, but 3% worse than the average hitter with the Marlins).

He's been a train wreck this postseason, notching hits in just five of his 34 at-bats while striking out five times more than he's walked. He's certainly not the hottest hitter on the planet right now, though he'll have solid protection behind him no matter where he hits in the lineup, and he should have plenty of opportunities to drive in runs if he's hitting behind Judge, Stanton, and Soto.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that this World Series will be split between Yankee Stadium, which has the infamous short right field porch that lefty hitters like Chisholm can feast on, and Dodger Stadium, where Chisholm has a career OPS of .817.

Anthony Rizzo

Cubs fans will cringe a little at this one, but Rizzo is going to be occupying prime real estate in the Yankees' lineup during the Fall Classic.

He suffered through his worst regular season in a long time in 2024, though he was one of New York's best hitters during the ALCS, posting an OPS of 1.000 even, thanks to an immaculate On-base Percentage of .500. Plus, Rizzo has tons of playoff experience, with 219 postseason plate appearance under his belt heading into this World Series. The bright lights won't bother the first baseman.

It also doesn't hurt that the Dodgers don't have any projected lefties in their starting rotation for this series, and their bullpen is also comprised of mostly righties. If L.A. is wary of pitching to Soto and Judge atop the Yankees' lineup, Rizzo will have every chance to make them pay.

Carlos Rodón

After a disastrous first season in the Bronx, Rodón resuscitated his status as a high-quality starter in 2024 with 195 strikeouts in 175 innings of solid work. He might not be the Cy Young contender he was with the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants a few years ago, but he's still capable of ace-caliber performances, like when he twirled six innings of one-run ball in Game 1 of the ALCS.

However, he's been far from clean in the playoffs throughout his career, with a lifetime 5.82 ERA in the postseason, and he's never made it through a single appearance without surrendering at least one run. That being said, there aren't going to be many pitchers' duels in this series. Starters who can consistently go into the fifth or sixth frame without allowing too much damage will be in short supply over the next four-to-seven games.

If he can outduel Yamamoto in Games 2 and 6, piloting the Yankees to their 28th championship, Rodón will be in pole position to be named World Series MVP.