Biggest World Series Game 5 Questions: Can the Yankees Make History? Reason for concern about the Dodgers' starter?

The 2024 World Series between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers continues on Wednesday evening Game 5 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees prevailed on Tuesday night and avoided a clean sweep. Another Yankees win on Wednesday would result in the series moving back to Los Angeles on Friday. The Dodgers, for their part, can secure their second World Series title in five years with a win.

Before Game 5 can begin, we here at CBS Sports thought it prudent to preview the affair, highlighting the most important question facing each team.

Let's get down to business.

Yankees: Can they make history?

You've no doubt read or heard by now that no team in MLB history has ever done this recovered from a 3-0 deficit to win the World Series. (The 2004 Boston Red Sox are the only team to ever do this in the LCS round, defeating these Yankees in the process.) Believe it or not, that statistic doesn't fully reflect the gravity of the situation. Most teams that are 3-0 down run out of asphalt sooner or later.

In fact, the Yankees became only the fourth team (out of 25 clubs) to fall 3-0 in the World Series and even force a Game 5. Next Wednesday night, they will try to become the first team to force the World Series into Game 6 after trailing 3-0. As MLB's Thomas Harrington noted, there were four teams in the LCS round that did it: the 2004 Red Sox, the 2020 Houston Astros, the 1999 New York Mets and the 1998 Atlanta Braves. The Red Sox prevailed in seven games, while the Astros lost in the seventh game.

The Yankees appear to have the right pitcher for them in Game 5, as ace Gerrit Cole will look to shut out the Dodgers' bats like he did in Game 1.

Dodgers: Will Flaherty get a regular break?

Cole's counterpart, Jack Flaherty, also performed well in Game 1. Our question here is whether it will impact him if he has to pitch during the regular break. Remember, Flaherty's rest pattern and speed were a topic of conversation leading up to the World Series, with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts saying the following before Game 1.

“I think, No. 1, we have no other alternative. And No. 2, we'll deal with it to the extent that stuff kind of looks like it's not normal anymore.” [rest]. But that's how we set up the rotation and that's how it will be.

Historically, Flaherty has been at his best with regular rest (defined as four days) throughout his career. Even this season, he posted a 3.15 ERA and a 6.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio on four days of rest. Of course, those numbers are even worse when you take into account his drubbing for three innings and eight runs in NLCS Game 5 (on four days off) against the Mets.

What's more notable is that Flaherty actually noticed decreased fastball velocity when he trained with regular rest periods. His heater averaged 92.6 mph when running on four rest days, versus 93.3 mph on five or six rest days. Flaherty also misses fewer at-bats (29.4% compared to 32% or more) when he rests four days.

Will any of this matter on Wednesday night? You have to see that. But Flaherty's ability to navigate the Yankees' lineup will have a big impact on whether the season continues into the weekend.