The “MVP!” chants echoed all through Dodger Stadium when Shohei Ohtani got here to bat within the eighth inning Sunday evening. No shock there. The Dodgers slugger has been serenaded with such chants for a lot of the season and can possible be a unanimous option to win the Nationwide League most dear participant award in November.
However when those self same chants returned three batters later, as Dodgers cleanup man Tommy Edman, all 5-foot-10, 193 kilos of him, stepped into the field for his closing at-bat of an NL Championship Collection-clinching 10-5 Recreation 6 victory over the New York Mets? Now that was a shocker.
“Yeah, I could hear them — it was crazy,” Edman mentioned amid one other rollicking clubhouse celebration stuffed with glowing wine, beer, cigar smoke and heart-thumping music. “Definitely nothing I ever expected. To be in this situation is pretty wild.”
And warranted. On a group filled with superstars, together with a soon-to-be three-time MVP in Ohtani, former MVPs in Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Clayton Kershaw, it was Edman who hoisted the NLCS MVP trophy above his head on the victory stand as his teammates, coaches and a crowd of 52,674 cheered him on.
And what did that trophy really feel like?
“Heavy,” mentioned Edman, the unassuming utility man who was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-team trade-deadline deal. “It felt awesome picking it up.”
Edman did a lot of the heavy lifting for the Dodgers on Sunday evening, turning a 1-0 deficit right into a 2-1 lead along with his two-run double to left discipline within the first inning — the primary lead change in an NLCS marked by lopsided scores — and following Teoscar Hernández’s leadoff single within the third with a two-run house run to left-center for a 4-1 lead.
The switch-hitter reached on a fielder’s-choice grounder and scored within the eighth to cap an NLCS by which he hit .407 (11 for 27) with a 1.023 on-base-plus-slugging share, one homer, three doubles and 11 RBIs, tying Corey Seager’s franchise document for RBIs in an NLCS, set in 2020 in opposition to the Atlanta Braves.
“It’s pretty crazy, especially with the history of the organization, to have tied that [RBI] record,” Edman mentioned. “But it’s a testament to the guys on the team. Our whole lineup was really good. I kept getting up with guys on base and had a lot of opportunities to drive in runs.”
Edman had an RBI double and a two-run double out of the cleanup spot in a 10-2 Recreation 4 victory over the Mets in New York. He mentioned batting fourth “is still weird to me,” and even supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned, “I never imagined when we acquired him that he’d be hitting fourth in a postseason game.”
However with middle-of-the-order hitter Freeman sidelined by a right-ankle sprain, the Mets beginning left-hander Sean Manaea — who restricted the Dodgers to 2 earned runs and two hits in 5 innings of New York’s 7-3 Recreation 2 victory — and Edman a much more harmful hitter from the appropriate facet, it was the appropriate selection Sunday evening.
Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman receives a kiss from his mom, Maureen Kwak, after profitable NLCS MVP after the Dodgers’ collection win over the New York Mets on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Instances)
After Ohtani led off the underside of the primary with a single to middle and took third on Teoscar Hernández’s single off the center-field wall, Edman fell behind 1-and-2 within the rely however stayed again on a 79-mph, down-and-away sweeper, poking a two-run double into the left-field nook for a 2-1 lead.
“Manaea actually made a really good pitch with the backdoor sweeper,” mentioned Andrew Friedman, the group’s president of baseball operations. “His ability to ride that out and hook it down the line, I think, was really deflating for Manaea.”
Edman’s third-inning homer, with Teoscar Hernández aboard, was a little bit of a dagger. Manaea bought forward with one other 1-2 rely and tried to slide a 91-mph fastball above the zone previous Edman, who barreled up a ball that left his bat at 104 mph and traveled 406 toes over the left-center discipline wall for a 4-1 lead.
“I heard some people call him ‘Little Guy Tommy’ on TV, but there’s nothing little about his bat,” fellow utility man Kiké Hernández mentioned. “He has a lot of pop, especially from the right side. He carried the offense in this series. He’s locked in. Got the job done. MVP.”
Edman opened the playoffs in middle discipline however moved to shortstop within the third recreation of the NL Division Collection in opposition to San Diego, when Miguel Rojas aggravated a left-adductor pressure. Rojas is hoping to return for the World Collection in opposition to the New York Yankees, but when he’s activated, it would possible be as a reserve.
Edman, who’s batting .341 (15 for 44) with an .810 OPS, one homer, three doubles and 12 RBIs in 11 playoff video games, will possible stay at shortstop, and Kiké Hernández, who’s batting .303 (10 for 33) with an .863 OPS, two homers and 5 RBIs, will stay within the lineup in middle discipline or at third base.
“I think Tommy was undoubtedly the MVP,” Ohtani mentioned in Japanese. “Not just in this series … he came in the middle of the season, but he did really good work, including things that don’t show up in numbers. I think he’s a wonderful player.”
Added Roberts: “I trust him. The guys trust him. He’s made huge defensive plays for us and had huge hits. We’re just very fortunate to have a player like Tommy.”
Edman missed the primary 4 months of the season whereas recovering from wrist surgical procedure and an ankle sprain and didn’t even play his first recreation with the Dodgers till Aug. 19. He hit .237 with a .711 OPS, six homers and 20 RBIs in 37 video games, and although he closed the season in a two-for-30 hunch, he has discovered his stroke in October.
One other massive evening on the plate for Edman, capped by an NLCS MVP award, made for an emotional evening in part 105 of the Loge degree of Dodger Stadium, the place the Edman household, together with father John, Tommy’s baseball coach at La Jolla Nation Day College, was sitting.
“We definitely got a little teary-eyed,” John Edman mentioned. “I mean, it was obviously a hard season for him with the injury not knowing when he was going to be ready, and I think he was pretty frustrated. For it to turn out like this is so special.
“When he hit the double, we went nuts. When he hit the home run, the whole section went nuts. And the MVP chants … that blew me away. It was amazing.”
