Ex-Red Sox aplenty as Yankees and Dodgers meet in World Series

When the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers take the field for Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night, Red Sox fans can expect to see some familiar faces.

This year’s Fall Classic will feature four former Red Sox players between the two sides, plus a fifth who never played for Boston in the majors but who was a prominent former prospect.

The Dodgers boast former Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts, utility man Kiké Hernandez and right-handers Ryan Brasier and Michael Kopech, while the Yankees feature recently traded outfielder Alex Verdugo.

Betts is obviously the most prominent ex-Red Sox involved, and his presence in the series will no doubt prompt plenty of sour feelings from fans who wish the former MVP had never been traded.

Now playing in his second World Series with the Dodgers and his third overall, Betts missed almost two months midseason with a broken wrist but has remained a dominant all-around contributor whenever he’s taken the field. This year Betts earned his eighth All-Star nod, batted .289 with 19 home runs and 75 RBI in 116 games, and solidified Los Angeles’ injury-depleted infield by starting 61 games at shortstop and 12 games at second base in addition to 42 games at his usual right field.

Betts is also enjoying the best postseason run of his career. Through LA’s first 11 games he is batting .296 with four home runs, 12 RBI and a 1.063 OPS.

Hernandez played for Boston more recently, spending a three-season stint with the Red Sox between 2021-23 before landing back with the Dodgers in a deadline deal. This year Hernandez has fallen into more of a utility role after spending most of his Red Sox career as a starter, and in 126 games he batted .229 with a .654 OPS while playing at eight defensive positions for the Dodgers, including four appearances as a mop-up pitcher.

But, as Red Sox fans are well aware, Hernandez is also a proven postseason performer and has stepped up for the Dodgers again this October. This fall Hernandez has appeared in nine playoff games and batted .303 with two home runs, five RBI and an .863 OPS.

Brasier is now in his second season with the Dodgers, with whom he landed after being cut loose by the Red Sox early in 2023. The 2018 World Series champion has found a new lease on life since arriving in LA, and while he missed almost four months this year after suffering a calf strain, he’s remained a reliable staple of the Dodgers bullpen. Overall he posted a 3.54 ERA over 28 innings, including a 2.76 ERA over 17 regular season outings following his return from the IL.

Brasier has been a bit shakier so far in the postseason. Through six appearances he’s posted a 5.14 ERA over seven innings. He’s also started two playoff games as an opener.

Kopech has endured quite a journey since his days as a top Red Sox prospect. After being dealt to the Chicago White Sox as part of the Chris Sale trade ahead of the 2017 season, Kopech made a brief big league cameo on the South Side in 2018 before missing two straight seasons, first due to Tommy John surgery and then due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon his return in 2021 he established himself as an MLB regular but this season transitioned from the starting rotation to the bullpen after walking a league-worst 91 batters in 2023.

He eventually landed with the Dodgers ahead of this summer’s trade deadline, and with the change of scenery seems to have finally realized his immense potential. Since his arrival in LA he has posted a 1.13 ERA over 24 regular season outings, and through six postseason games he’s allowed just one run over 5.1 innings while holding opposing batters to a .111 batting average.

Verdugo has endured a rocky tenure in the Bronx since being dealt last winter as part of a rare Red Sox-Yankees trade. The outfielder posted the worst offensive season of his career, batting .233 with 13 home runs, 61 RBI and a .647 OPS in 149 games, and recently he’s also ceded playing time to Yankees rookie Jasson Dominguez.

He’s also batted .194 with two extra-base hits in nine playoff games, but he’s remained a mainstay on the field in large part thanks to his contributions on defense. Verdugo is a Gold Glove finalist for the second straight year, and given Dominguez’s shortcomings in that area he should remain a regular throughout the World Series.

That means Red Sox fans should prepare themselves for a regular diet of Mookie Betts-Alex Verdugo trade references, an irritating storyline hanging over what should otherwise be a stellar, star-studded clash between two of baseball’s marquis franchises.