Biggest questions for MLB playoffs on Friday: Dodgers on the cusp of NL pennant, Yankees and Guardians in ALCS

Does the Cleveland bullpen have enough in the tank? Can the Mets pitchers avoid disaster?

The 2024 Major League Baseball postseason continues on Friday with a pair of Championship Series contests. In the first game, the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, up 3-1 in the NLCS, will attempt to close out the New York Mets and advance to the World Series. First pitch is scheduled for 5:08 p.m. ET. In the night game, the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians will play Game 4 at Progressive Field. The Yankees are up 2-1 in that series. It gets underway at 8:08 p.m. ET. 

Now let's have a look at one pivotal question for each of these four teams heading into Friday's action. 

Dodgers: Will Jack Flaherty repeat his brilliance of Game 1?

Flaherty in the NLCS opener back in L.A. twirled seven shutout innings in a tone-setting gem for the Dodgers. From the Dodgers' standpoint, that performance was most welcome for reasons that go beyond the obvious. Right now, the Dodgers have only three healthy starting pitchers, and that's forced manager Dave Roberts to dial up bullpen games multiple times during this playoff run. Getting length from Flaherty and thus lightening the load on the heavily used L.A. bullpen was crucial, especially in light of Flaherty's prior struggles. The Dodgers' bullpen has worked 9 2/3 innings over the last two days, and they'd of course love to secure the pennant on Friday and ensure multiple days of rest before the start of the World Series. Flaherty will be the main character in that particular story. 

Mets: Can they keep the Dodgers' offense in check?

The Mets' pitching has been a disaster thus far in the NLCS. Through the first four games of the series, the Mets are lugging around a team ERA of 6.43, and in 35 innings of work, they've managed to walk 31 batters (!). That ERA doesn't reflect the five unearned runs allowed by the Mets' pitching and defense. Suffice it to say, it's difficult to win any series when you're hemorrhaging runs to such an extent. It's also been a staff-wide meltdown for the Mets. The Mets' starters in this series have teamed up for an ERA of 6.28 with 12 strikeouts and 16 walks in 14 1/3 innings. The New York bullpen, meantime, has an NLCS ERA of 6.53 with 24 strikeouts and 15 walks in 20 2/3 innings. You're not going to win many series with run prevention like that. 

Yankees: Is Aaron Judge in the midst of a power surge?

Judge's postseason struggles have received a lot of attention lately, but more recently, he's looked like his vintage self. The likely AL MVP homered and drove in three runs in the Yankees' Game 2 win. Then in Game 3 – the instant classic that saw the Guardians stun the Yankees in extra innings – Judge hit a game-tying opposite-field laser off uber-closer Emmanuel Clase that left the bat at 110 mph: 

That, by the way, was a 99-mph, two-strike cutter from Clase located on the outside edge of the zone. It's fair to wonder whether any other hitter can do what Judge did to that pitch from that pitcher. For the ALCS, Judge is batting just .200 with an OBP of .231. However, his recent uprising at the plate means he's now slugging .800 for the series. We know he's capable of hitting homers by the bushel when he's in that zone, and that last games suggest he might indeed be in that zone. No doubt, the Yankees could use more thunder from him as they try to take a 3-1 lead on Friday. 

Guardians: Does the bullpen have enough in the tank?

Stephen Vogt's relief corps has worked hard and often so far in the ALCS. The Guardians' three starting pitchers used thus far have combined for just nine innings across their three starts. That means the bullpen has picked up the sherpa's load of remaining innings -- 17 of them, to be exact. In all, 10 relievers have combined for 18 appearances. One core hurler, Pedro Avila, has pitched in all three games of the series. Thursday's Game 3 was the first of three in as many days for the Guardians, so the work figures to continue for the Cleveland pen. 

Might Friday's Game 4 against the Yankees bring more of the same? The Guardians are starting right-hander Gavin Williams. He pitched to a 4.86 ERA in 16 regular season starts, and over those 16 starts, he averaged just 4.8 innings per outing. He'll also be making his first start in almost a month. Williams last pitched on Sept. 22, when he lasted 5 2/3 innings against the Cardinals. Vogt, of course, is not likely to let a middling starter like Williams make more than two trips through the opposing Yankee lineup, so it figures to be another active day for the pen.