LOS ANGELES >> Shohei Ohtani got what he came for when he decided to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers: a trip to the World Series.

“I really feel like we finally arrived. I finally arrived at this stage,” Ohtani said through a translator after Sunday night’s 10-5 win over the New York Mets finished the NL Championship Series in six games.

Ohtani hit .364 with two homers, six RBIs, nine walks and a 1.184 OPS against the Mets, including two hits and an RBI in Game 6. He’s batting .286 with three homers and 10 RBIs over 11 games in his first postseason heading into the World Series starting Friday against the New York Yankees.

When he signed his record $700 million, 10-year contract last December, Ohtani agreed to defer $68 million annually to give the team payroll flexibility. The Dodgers signed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, traded for pitcher Tyler Glasnow and signed outfielder Teoscar Hernández, among other moves.

“The goal was to get to this far,” Ohtani said, “and I also pictured myself getting this far with the contract that I’ve signed.”

Not pitching this year as he recovered from elbow surgery, Ohtani hit .310 with NL bests of 54 homers and 130 RBIs along with 59 stolen bases to become the first 50-50 player. He is likely to win his first NL MVP award after a pair of AL MVPs.

“He’s the world’s biggest baseball star. Not just the game, the world,” teammate Max Muncy said. “He shows up every day, you expect him to do something incredible and he very rarely disappoints. He works his tail off; he’s a great teammate. We’ve loved having him in the clubhouse and getting to be his teammate all year long has been an absolute treat.”

Ohtani is 18 for his last 23 with runners in scoring position going back to his 10-RBI game on Sept. 19 when he became the first 50-50 player. He had an 0 for 22 stretch with no runners on base.

“There’s nothing in particular that I changed,” Ohtani said. “Obviously when there’s situations, I do change how I swing. But in terms of my approach, I’ve been continuing with my approach the whole time. I do think a part of it is it’s just a small sample size.”

Dodgers give ball to Flaherty in Game 1 >> Jack Flaherty will start for the Dodgers in the World Series opener against the Yankees.

The right-hander opposes Gerrit Cole on Friday night at Dodger Stadium in a matchup of area natives.

Flaherty is from nearby Burbank and attended high school at Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles. Cole is from Tustin in Orange County and pitched at UCLA.

Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto — the $325 million rookie — will start Game 2 on Saturday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday on a Zoom call with media.

Roberts said there will be a bullpen game during the best-of-7 series.

Flaherty has started three times in these playoffs with a 7.04 ERA. He struggled in his most recent start against the New York Mets in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series, giving up eight earned runs and four walks in three innings.

Flaherty had dominated in Game 1 against the Mets, allowing two hits over seven innings.

He joined the Dodgers at the July trade deadline from Detroit.

Cortes expects to be on roster >> Nestor Cortes expects to be on the Yankees’ World Series roster after throwing two innings of batting practice and pronouncing himself recovered from an elbow injury that has sidelined him for more than a month.

Cortes said he plans to pitch even if it risks a long-term injury.

“If I have a ring and then a year off of baseball, then so be it,” he said.

Cortes threw 28 pitches on Tuesday, sitting down for a half-inning while Tim Mayza faced hitters. Cortes said an hour later, he felt normal levels of soreness.

Cortes has been sidelined since Sept. 18 because of a flexor strain in his pitching elbow. The 29-year-old left-hander jogged to the mound from the bullpen, his likely Series role.

“My expectation is to be on (the roster), for sure, or at least be considered,” he said.

The Yankees are weighing whether to carry 13 pitchers on their 26-man World Series roster. New York had 12 pitchers and 14 position players for the ALCS against Cleveland after going with 11 pitchers and 15 position players for the Division Series versus Kansas City. The World Series roster must be submitted to Major League Baseball by 10 a.m. on Friday, about seven hours before Game 1.

“If he’s going to be added, we’d probably need to be at 13,” pitching coach Matt Blake said. “It would be hard to add him with any type of restrictions that he has and take a pitcher off. We definitely can’t run him like some of the other guys in the ’pen.”

Cortes made one relief outing during the season, his first since 2021. He followed Clarke Schmidt and threw 4 1/3 innings in a 2-0 win at the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 7.

Los Angeles features left-handed-hitting Shohei Ohtani leading off, right-handed Mookie Betts batting second and left-handed Freddie Freeman hitting third, though Freeman’s status is unclear because of an ankle injury.

“There’s going to be a time where either Game 1 or Game 2, where there’s going to be a lefty role for me or a left lane,” Cortes said. “If I throw four to eight pitches, I might be ready to go the next day.”

Ohtani is 2 for 12 against Cortes with a pair of singles, an RBI and one strikeout.

“I never throw changeups to lefties, but I’ll probably throw changeups in this circumstances,” Cortes said. “I’m going to have to bring out the kitchen sink on him and not only him, but all the other lefties that they have in that lineup.”

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was initially dubious of Cortes returning. Cortes lobbied to be included in the Division Series and League Championship Series.

Meanwhile, Freeman is penciling himself into Friday’s Dodgers lineup.

“I don’t think there’s any question in anybody’s mind that I will be in the lineup for Game 1,” he said Tuesday during a Zoom news conference.