World Series 2017: Series Preview and Game-by-Game Predictions

1. The 2017 World Series begins Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, as the Los Angeles Dodgers welcome to the Houston Astros to town to kick off this best-of-seven series.

2. The Dodgers have home-field advantage after winning 104 games during the regular season. It's their first trip to the Fall Classic since 1988, when they beat the Oakland Athletics behind the MVP performance of Orel Hershiser.

3. As for the Astros, they will be seeking their first World Series title in franchise history. Their only other pennant came in 2005, but the Chicago White Sox swept them in the World Series.

4. Before the series gets underway, we have put together a quick preview of each team's lineup, starting rotation and a few X-factors to watch before making game-by-game predictions for how things will play out.

Projected Lineups

1. Projected Astros Lineup

CF George Springer

• RF Josh Reddick (L)

• 2B Jose Altuve

• SS Carlos Correa

• 1B Yuli Gurriel

• 3B Alex Bregman

• DH Carlos Beltran (S)

• LF Marwin Gonzalez (S)

• C Brian McCann (S

The Astros were baseball's most potent offense during the regular season, leading the majors in runs scored (896), team batting average (.282) and team OPS (.823).MVP candidate Jose Altuve has led the way in October with a ridiculous .400/.500/.775 line that includes five home runs and more walks (8) than strikeouts (7).The only change likely to occur in that projected lineup will be slotting Evan Gattis in for a few starts as either a replacement for Brian McCann behind the plate or Carlos Beltran at designated hitter. McCann is hitting just .156 this postseason, and the pitching staff had a better ERA with Gattis behind the dish during the regular season (3.87 vs. 4.36).Alex Bregman could also find himself in the No. 2 spot in the batting order against the Dodgers' lefty-heavy rotation, especially considering Josh Reddick is batting just .171 in the playoffs.

Projected Dodgers Lineup

CF Chris Taylor

• SS Corey Seager

• 3B Justin Turner

• 1B Cody Bellinger (L)

• RF Yasiel Puig

• LF Andre Ethier (vs. RHP)/Kike Hernandez (vs. LHP)

• 2B Chase Utley (vs. RHP)/Logan Forsythe (vs. LHP)

• C Austin Barnes

1. Corey Seager's health is the big question for the Dodgers after he was left off the National League Championship Series roster with a back injury.

2. Seager took batting practice and ground balls at shortstop Sunday, and manager Dave Roberts is "very confident" he'll be back in the lineup when the World Series begins Tuesday, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. Otherwise, it will be either Charlie Culberson manning shortstop or Chris Taylor moving in from center field.

3. Expect a straight platoon to continue both in left field and at second base. Catcher is a bit more of a fluid situation, with Austin Barnes seizing a bigger piece of the timeshare from Yasmani Grandal down the stretch and into the postseason.

4. Curtis Granderson will likely be in the lineup when the series shifts to Houston and the team needs a designated hitter. He has two career home runs against Justin Verlander.

Projected Rotations

Projected Astros Rotation

Dallas Keuchel (L)

• Justin Verlander

• Charlie Morton

• Lance McCullers Jr.

1. The Astros have only announced Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander as the Game 1 and Game 2 starters, and they will once again be choosing between Charlie Morton, Lance McCullers Jr. and Brad Peacock to round out the staff.

2. Morton and McCullers combined for a gem in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, and piggybacking them again might not be the worst idea depending on how taxed the bullpen is heading into Game 3.

3. The Astros will have unfamiliarity on their side when Keuchel takes the mound. He's only ever faced Logan Forsythe (7-for-20), Chase Utley (1-for-4) and Chris Taylor (0-for-3), which could give him an upper hand in Game 1.

4. It's not unreasonable to say the Astros will go as far as Keuchel and Verlander carry them this postseason.

Projected Dodgers Rotation

Clayton Kershaw (L)

• Rich Hill (L)

• Yu Darvish

• Alex Wood (L)

1. Clayton Kershaw turned in the defining moment of his postseason career against the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of the NLCS, allowing three hits and one run over six dominant innings. Now we will see what the best pitcher in the game can do for an encore in his first trip to the World Series.

2. Rich Hill and Yu Darvish present an interesting matchup for the Astros, as both pitchers recently called the AL West home. Hill pitched for Oakland last season, while Darvish spent his entire career prior to July with the Texas Rangers.

3. However, Astros hitters carry a paltry .190/.249/.288 line in 163 combined at-bats against Darvish, and he was dominant in his most recent start against them—allowing just one hit over seven innings of work on June 12.

4. Alex Wood will once again fill the No. 4 starter role, and he could be used out of the bullpen later in the series if the need arises.

Astros: Brad Peacock

1. Whether he gets a start later in the series or works exclusively out of the bullpen, Brad Peacock has a chance to be a difference-maker for the Astros.

2. Assuming he comes out of the bullpen, he could be asked to replace the struggling Chris Devenski as the team's primary multi-inning weapon. Devenski has allowed five hits, three walks and four earned runs in three innings.

3. The Astros have other capable long relievers, including starter Collin McHugh, but there is a reason Peacock is also in the mix to earn a start.

4. The 29-year-old went 13-2 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 161 strikeouts in 132.0 innings during the regular season. That included 21 starts and 13 relief appearances, and he pitched to a 1.77 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 20.1 innings when coming out of the bullpen.

5. Houston has gotten a 5.03 ERA from its bullpen this postseason, so any sort of stabilizing presence would be welcomed with open arms.

Dodgers: The Health of Corey Seager

1. Seager's health is easily the biggest X-factor in this series, at least on paper.

2. The 23-year-old was brilliant once again this season, hitting .295/.375/.479 with 33 doubles, 22 home runs and 77 RBI on his way to a 5.6 WAR. However, he was plagued by a sore shoulder down the stretch and hit just .210/.286/.356 in September as a result.

3. He was active for the team's three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series, going 3-for-11 with a triple and two RBI in that series. But a back injury left him watching from the sidelines in the NLCS.

4. Props to Charlie Culberson for doing a terrific job filling in after seeing a grand total of 15 plate appearances at the MLB level during the regular season. However, Seager is capable of transforming the offense if he's close to 100 percent.

5. At the very least, expect to see him penciled in as the DH once the series moves to Houston.