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How Tommy Edman became superglue in Dodgers machine: 'Blessed to be in LA'
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- How Tommy Edman became superglue in Dodgers machine: 'Blessed to be in LA'
WASHINGTON — Tommy Edman can do just about anything for the Los Angeles Dodgers . Except pull rank.
The reigning National League Championship Series MVP , their leader in home runs on this young season and the superglue that holds the middle of their diamond together, Edman, at 30, would be a decorated elder on most rosters.
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With these Dodgers, who feature seven players with nine-figure contracts, four likely Hall of Famers and an industrywide expectation that they'll repeat as World Series champions , he's fortunate just to get his hacks in.
"I talked to him yesterday and he was struggling to get some cage time, because he's so low on the totem pole," says his former St. Louis Cardinals infield mate, Paul DeJong , who's now the Washington Nationals ' third baseman. "With the amount of vets and guys on that team, I thought that was pretty funny. Because on this team he'd be one of the veteran players.
"To see him back toward the bottom of the service time rank, that would be humbling. But he's the type of guy that's going to get his work in no matter what the case is."
And the work, quite often, is excellent.
Tommy Edman racked up 20 hits in 16 postseason games in 2024.
Edman parlayed his late-season heroics after a July trade from St. Louis into long-term security, signing a five-year, $74 million extension this offseason, one year before he was eligible for free agency. And while his 11 hits and 11 RBIs in the NLCS tied a Dodgers franchise record, they'll experience the full spectrum of Edman's talents this season.
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He's already slugged five home runs in 14 games, tied with Teoscar Hernández for the team lead, and ranks second or third in hits, RBIs, runs and slugging percentage. While most of his starts have been at second base, he's also logged time in center field and is available if needed at shortstop.
The marriage of Edman and the Dodgers is practically perfect: He's perhaps the most deluxe edition of the versatile star, a fellow who can toggle excellently between positions as needed, an art previously mastered by the likes of Chris Taylor and Kiké Hernández .
Yet Edman is both a switch-hitter and the 2021 Gold Glove winner at second base. As the Cardinals faded from perennial contender to .500 franchise, it was like Edman's skills were hiding in plain sight.
Strength and skills
He accumulated 6.2 WAR in 2022, the Cardinals' last playoff season, and stole 32 bases in the final year before rules designed to juice stolen base totals arrived.
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After arriving with the Dodgers and completing his recovery from wrist and ankle injuries, Edman has scarcely looked back.
He banged out 20 postseason hits and an .862 OPS in 16 games, motivating both sides to reach agreement on his contract extension. Edman, a San Diego native with a young son, saw the upside of living close to parents who could help he and his wife with their child.
And on the field, he realized the gains seemed to come even quicker in L.A.
"With the help of the team I think I've gotten better at doing everything with a purpose," says Edman. "Every swing has a purpose behind it. I'm working on something every day in the cage. Everything I do in the weight room is to address something I feel I need to work on. Whether that's a strength deficit in one area, or something that allows me to be explosive and be the player I am.
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"Everything means something, instead of just going through the motions sometimes."
Edman's 5-foot-9, 193-pound frame might not leap out amid a bench-clearing brawl, say. Yet it seems almost ideally structured for the speed and surprising power he can generate and allows him to move freely among positions.
So far this season, his average exit velocity of 92.2 mph is 3 mph harder than his peak in 2023 and he ranks in the 87thpercentile of the majors with a 55.3% hard-hit rate. He's batted third five times in All-Star Freddie Freeman 's absence due to ankle injury, yet also has batted as low as eighth.
And while he's stolen just one base so far, he's been caught just 17 times in his seven-year career, his 113 thefts in 130 tries producing an elite 87% success rate.
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"It's a very vast skill set," says Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "He's a guy that is very low maintenance on my side of things. He just plays and prepares. And it's almost like whenever you need somewhere to plug, he's there. Whether you need need a two hitter, you need a four hitter, you need somebody to hit behind somebody or get on base."
Tommy Edman celebrates a home run with against Atlanta.
Looks like another perfect day
He's blended smoothly into the Dodgers fabric, and with the array of superstars on the roster – Mookie Betts , Shohei Ohtani and Freeman are former MVPs, to start – Edman can operate easily under the radar.
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It's essentially SoCal vibes with a dash of salt.
"His attitude is what a lot of people don't understand," says DeJong. "How much of a competitor he is but also how positive he is about his daily process. And his outlook on life is super special."
Edman has learned to walk proudly among giants, having played in St. Louis with the likes of Yadier Molina , Paul Goldschmidt , Adam Wainwright and Nolan Arenado .
These Dodgers are another planet entirely, with dozens of reporters following Ohtani's every move and nearly 4 million fans expected to jam through the turnstiles this season.
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Edman hardly gets lost in the shuffle, even if he's far from long in the tooth. When Freeman returns, Edman will outrank only Will Smith – by a few days – and outfielder Andy Pages in service time among the Dodgers' 13 position players.
That might cause him to take a number at the batting cage. But the payoff is worth it, for both club and player.
"It's a cool opportunity to get to learn from guys who have had Hall of Fame careers already," says Edman. "To have that long-term contract and know that I'll be in L.A. for a while, it means a lot.
"I feel very blessed to be in L.A."
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers' Tommy Edman, postseason hero, crucial part of LA machine
