The Yankees hope Torres avoids some of the ugly mistakes he made at times during the regular season.

The state of the Dodgers infield is still somewhat in flux as they await the availability of shortstop Miguel Rojas, who missed the NLCS with a torn adductor muscle.

That forced Edman off the field at shortstop. Perhaps the stability of the Yankees’ infield will give them an advantage, as Muncy may have to move from third to first and Kiké Hernandez from the infield to the outfield depending on injuries and matchups.

Margin: Yankees

Outfield

With the offensive numbers Judge and Soto usually put up, their lackluster defensive performance hasn’t been a problem, and Alex Verdugo — in the lineup every single game because of his solid defensive play — remains strong in left.

Los Angeles has lived with Teoscar Hernandez’s shaky play in left because of his 33 homers.

Now that they’re in the midst of an untimely slump, that defense looks even worse.

Andy Pages and Betts are fine.

Margin: Even

On bases

After putting together the first 50-50 season in MLB history — an accomplishment that helped Judge call him “the best player in the game” — Ohtani didn’t steal a base this offseason.

But seven other Dodgers have.

Although Chisholm didn’t get on base much, he did pass two bases.

Torres, while at the top of the Yankees’ batting order, isn’t fast and was thrown at the plate in the ALCS.

Margin: Dodgers

Bank

If Rizzo can go, the Yankees don’t envision using their bullpen much, though Jasson Dominguez or Berti could be used as runners.

Oswaldo Cabrera’s defensive versatility may come in handy, and if Jose Trevino sees the field, things don’t go well for Wells. Injuries have forced the Dodgers to get creative with their lineup, which they are adept at doing.

Pages started in center with Edman at short and Chris Taylor coming in at second for Lux and Los Angeles was able to get past the Mets in the NLCS.

Margin: Dodgers

On the mound

Rotation

This is where things could get interesting, as the Dodgers have weathered a number of injuries to their rotation to get this far.

They used seven relievers in a bullpen game in their Game 6 over the Mets and will need to pitch another bullpen game at least once during this series.

As for the regular starters, trade acquisition Jack Flaherty — an LA native — has misfired in two of his three postseason starts.

He allowed eight runs in three innings for the Mets in a Game 5 loss and could be running on fumes.

He is expected to go with Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 and Walker Buehler in Game 3 or 4.

Yamamoto has pitched well in two of his three outings since October, but he doesn’t offer much length and neither does Buehler.

Gerrit Cole gets the Game 1 start for the Yankees with Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil in the backfield.

The Yankees rotation didn’t offer a ton of length, but they kept the bullpen from being overused.

Cole has been short in two of his three playoff starts, and Rodon and Schmidt haven’t overachieved, but in nine postseason games, the Yankees have gotten 44 innings from their starters, while the Dodgers have gotten just 40 in 11 playoff games. .

Margin: Yankees

Bullpen

Among the reasons the Dodgers are comfortable riding the bullpen so heavily is its effectiveness.

Although their bullpen has been taxed, reinforcements could be coming as lefty Alex Vesia, who missed the NLCS with an intercostal injury, and righty Brusdar Graterol, with shoulder inflammation, could return for the World Series.

Closer Blake Treinen was strong and the Dodgers got good innings from Michael Kopech, Daniel Hudson, Evan Phillips, Ben Casparius and Anthony Banda.

The Yankees have relied heavily on Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle and rookie reliever Luke Weaver, and they’ve pitched well, aside from a collapse in Game 3 of the ALCS in Cleveland.

With dangerous lefties in the Dodgers lineup, sluggers Tim Hill – terrific so far in the postseason – and Tim Mayza will be relied on even more.

The likely return of Nestor Cortes could have a significant impact on the bullpen as the versatile left-hander has been out for over a month with a flexor strain.

He risks further injury coming back at this point, but if he can stay healthy — and be effective — he’ll provide another valuable option. Mark Leiter Jr. and Jake Cousins ​​also had big outings.

Margin: Dodgers

Manager

Aaron Boone and Dave Roberts both had good postseasons to get here because — despite their respective teams’ high salaries and expectations — each had to make decisions to get to this point.

Boone and the Yankees had the easier path, having to play the AL Central’s Royals and Guardians, but he deployed his bullpen well and was rewarded with keeping Torres in the top of the lineup.

Roberts and the Dodgers have had to deal with the Padres, one of the best rosters in the game, and the storied Mets to get this far.

And he did it with a rotation that was ravaged by injuries and a stalled Freeman.

Margin: Dodgers

Intangibles

These teams had been expected to meet for years, but it hadn’t happened in over four decades.

They have arguably the two most popular players in the game in Judge and Ohtani, but the Yankees are healthier and have at least some semblance of a rotation.

Margin: Yankees