If Andrew Friedman donned a white coat and protecting goggles and went right into a lab to create the right position-playing depth piece for the Dodgers, he would stroll out with Tommy Edman.
The group’s president of baseball operations has lengthy positioned a premium on versatility, and Edman is a Swiss Military Knife of a utility man, one who can play three outfield and three infield positions and excels on the all-important up-the-middle spots — shortstop, second base and heart subject.
Along with his defensive dexterity, Edman, 29, is a switch-hitter who has traditionally been equally productive from each side of the plate, giving supervisor Dave Roberts most flexibility for every day lineup selections and in-game strikes.
“To be able to play so many different positions and do so at such a high level, with the switch-hitting ability, the contact skills, the foot speed … there are just so many aspects that can help you win a game,” Friedman stated. “He’s a guy who has been on our radar a long time.”
That’s why the Dodgers jumped on the likelihood to amass Edman from St. Louis on the commerce deadline although Edman, a part of a three-team deal that additionally netted nearer Michael Kopech from the Chicago White Sox, had but to play a recreation in 2024 due to offseason wrist surgical procedure and an ankle sprain.
The Dodgers have two versatile utility males in Kiké Hernández and Chris Taylor, however each bat right-handed, and neither is as proficient within the center infield as Edman, who gained a Gold Glove Award at second base for the Cardinals in 2021 and accrued 10 outs above common at shortstop in 2022, tied for fourth amongst massive leaguers on the place.
Edman didn’t play his first recreation for the Dodgers till Aug. 19, however he shortly emerged as a key contributor through the group’s run to the Nationwide League West title and baseball’s greatest document, batting .237 with a .711 on-base-plus-slugging proportion, six homers and 20 RBIs in 37 video games.
Edman, who hit 4 homers in a two-game span in opposition to the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 10-11, together with one from all sides of the plate within the latter recreation, has began 22 video games in heart subject and 13 at shortstop, permitting the Dodgers to tempo veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas, who has been slowed by a left-adductor pressure.
The Dodgers’ Tommy Edman heads to first after hitting the primary of his two dwelling runs in opposition to the Cubs on Sept. 10.
(Mark J. Terrill / Related Press)
4 instances, Edman has moved from heart subject to shortstop throughout a recreation with no discernable drop-off defensively. He moved from shortstop to heart subject as soon as.
“It’s really tough,” Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel stated of the transition. “You’ve got to throw with a long arm, where you really get out in front of it, from the outfield, whereas in the infield, your throws are short and quick, you have to turn double plays and go into the six-hole.
“And depth perception is a challenge. You’re going from a 100-mph groundball hit to you on the dirt to center field, where balls are slicing, they have backspin or top spin. It’s a big adjustment, and it takes a special player, an elite defender, to bounce between center field and shortstop. He does it with a plus glove.”
The 5-foot-10, 193-pound Edman, within the first 12 months of a two-year, $16.5-million contract that runs by 2025, is extra of a complementary piece than an influence bat — he’ll hit seventh or eighth when the Dodgers open the NL Division Collection on Saturday, and he gained’t be anticipated to hold the offense.
Edman’s splits in a small pattern measurement this season had been extra excessive. He hit .181 (18 for 105) with a .523 OPS from the left aspect and .412 (14 for 34) with a 1.299 OPS from the correct aspect however has a profession .256 common and .689 OPS in 1,757 at-bats from the left aspect and a .284 common and .831 OPS in 609 at-bats from the correct aspect.
He additionally closed the common season in a two-for-30 stoop (.067) that dropped him from the .284 common and .824 OPS he sported on Sept. 19.
But when Edman can warmth up on the plate in October, he would add appreciable size to the playoff lineup, an added bonus to the numerous intangibles he brings on offense and protection.
“When we made the trade, I got a call from Albert Pujols, and he said you’re going to love this guy because he’s a baseball player,” Ebel stated, referring to the previous Angels and Dodgers slugger who performed with Edman in St. Louis in 2022. “He can hit from both sides of the plate, he’s shown some power, he can play short, second and center field.
“He’s fundamentally sound, he makes the routine play, he knows how to run the bases, he can bunt, he can hit-and-run, and he’s got the talent to be on a championship-caliber team and to win a World Series.”
This didn’t occur by chance.
There have been three defining moments in Edman’s life that satisfied his father, John, now in his twenty fifth 12 months as La Jolla Nation Day Faculty’s baseball coach, that his son may need what it takes to excel on the youth-league stage, play main faculty ball and attain the large leagues.
The primary was within the spring of 1998, when John Edman was a graduate assistant coach at Michigan and the Wolverines traveled to Notre Dame for an NCAA regional with toddler Tommy in tow.
“We were playing Wiffle ball on campus under Touchdown Jesus, and he squared a ball up right off my forehead,” John Edman, 53, stated. “The ball has those little holes, so the rest of the weekend, I had a Wiffle ball mark on my forehead. It was one of those experiences that you never forget. He had a pretty decent swing for a little 3-year-old.”
The second light-bulb second was within the spring of 2011, when Tommy, then a 5-foot-9, 150-pound sophomore at La Jolla Nation Day, led off the CIF San Diego part Division 4 championship recreation at San Diego State with a house run over the 365-foot check in left-center subject.
Tommy Edman taking part in for La Jolla Nation Day Faculty.
(Courtesy of Edman household)
“I didn’t think too much of it, but the next thing I know, San Diego State brought him in for a visit, and [then-coach] Tony Gwynn offered him a scholarship right after his sophomore year,” John stated. “I guess that’s the first time I had more of an outsider’s perspective on what [Tommy] was like as a ballplayer.”
The third got here within the winter after the 2018 season, which Edman, a sixth-round decide of the Cardinals out of Stanford in 2016, spent at double-A Springfield (Mo.) and triple-A Memphis.
“It was the year before he got his first big-league call-up in 2019, I was throwing batting practice to him in the offseason, and he just looked different,” John Edman stated. “All of a sudden, he was hitting for some power. I remember telling my wife, ‘I think he’s got a shot.’ He was playing well in the minor leagues, but something seemed like it clicked.”
A can’t-miss prospect or bonus child, Edman was not. He had a stable, however not spectacular, three-year profession at Stanford, batting .281 with a .726 OPS, 4 homers, 31 doubles and 71 RBIs in 168 video games. He signed with the Cardinals for $236,400, the precise slot worth assigned to his decide and never a penny extra.
However as he rose by the Cardinals’ system and finally established himself as an enormous leaguer, Edman developed a fame for being basically sound, versatile and polished on each side of the ball, a participant who didn’t wow you with eye-popping instruments however did every thing extraordinarily properly.
Rising up the son of a highschool coach clearly rubbed off on him.
“I learned a lot about the game at a pretty young age, and I was always around my father’s high school teams, whether I was just shagging balls in the outfield or just watching his games,” Edman stated. “So I think I learned about the game pretty early.
Tommy Edman, center, played baseball at Stanford. Standing with him on his graduation day are, from left, his father John Edman; his mother, Maureen; his sister, Elise; and his wife, Kristen.
(Courtesy of Edman family)
“[My father] has a great baseball mind. He taught me a lot of things. He was always willing to help me work, to hit groundballs and to throw me batting practice.”
When Tommy was 10 years previous, John and his brother-in-law constructed a batting cage within the yard of the household dwelling within the Tierrasanta part of San Diego, commissioning an area firm to chop metal pipes to measurement, ordering plane cable and netting from a batting-cage firm, digging holes manually and pouring concrete for the footings.
“It wasn’t a fancy design, by any means,” stated John Edman, who can also be a math instructor at his college. “I talked to a bunch of people and figured out how to do it.”
The cage remained within the yard till Tommy headed off to the minor leagues in 2016.
“If Tommy wanted to hit for 15 minutes to build some confidence, blow off steam or take a break from his homework, he could just go outside and do it,” John stated. “It was so much more convenient than having to go to the field every time you want to hit.”
Tommy wasn’t the one Edman to enter the household enterprise. His older brother, Johnny, works as a knowledge engineer and an independent-league scout for the Minnesota Twins, and his youthful sister, Elise, labored as a knowledge engineer for the Cardinals for 2 years earlier than transferring to a non-public sector job.
However Tommy is the one who benefited most from his father’s steerage, combining his personal expertise, work ethic and coach-on-the-field instincts to become the well-rounded participant he’s at present.
“I think it’s just playing the game the right way, always playing hard and making the smart decisions on the field, whether that’s base-running or defense, just having a good baseball IQ,” Edman stated, when requested how his father influenced his growth. “It’s trying to always do the right thing on the field.”
These attributes are among the many many Edman qualities the Dodgers had been enamored with from afar and are actually relying on to assist push the group by October.
“It’s very cool to be valued by one of the greatest organizations in baseball, and now, looking at it, I kind of see how it makes sense, knowing the versatility I have and how the Dodgers prioritize versatility,” Edman stated. “It’s been fun. I feel like I fit in well here. And hopefully I’ll continue to contribute at the level that I’ve been.”
