From trade acquisition to “MVP!” How Tommy Edman became the Dodgers’ playoff star

Chants of “MVP!” echoed throughout Dodger Stadium when Shohei Ohtani came to bat in the eighth inning on Sunday night. No surprise. The Dodgers slugger has been harassed with such chants most of the season and will likely be a unanimous choice to win the National League's Most Valuable Player award in November.

But when the same chants returned three batters later, Dodgers cleanup man Tommy Edman, 5-foot-10, 150 pounds, entered the box for his final shot of a 10-5 game that clinched the NL Championship Series with a 6-win victory about the New York Mets? Now The was a shock.

“Yeah, I could hear them — it was crazy,” Edman said during another raucous clubhouse celebration filled with champagne, beer, cigar smoke and heart-pounding music. “Definitely not something I ever expected. Being in that situation is pretty wild.”

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And justified. On a team full of superstars, including 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 over his head in the victory stand, above his teammates, coaches and 52,674 spectators cheered him on.

And how did that trophy feel?

“Heavy,” said Edman, the humble utility man acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-team trade deadline deal. “It felt great to pick it up.”

Edman did much of the heavy lifting for the Dodgers on Sunday night, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead with his two-run double to left field in the first inning – the first lead change in an NLCS by The scoring was characterized by one-sidedness – and after Teoscar Hernández's leadoff single in the third, he hit a two-run home run to left center for a 4-1 lead.

The switch-hitter reached for a fielder's choice grounder and capped an NLCS in the eighth in which he hit .407 (11 for 27) with an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of 1.023, a homer, three doubles and 11 hit RBIs, tying Corey Seager's franchise record for RBIs in an NLCS set against the Atlanta Braves in 2020.

“It’s pretty crazy, especially given the history of the organization, to have set that (RBI) record,” Edman said. “But it’s a testament to the guys on the team. Our entire lineup was really good. I kept getting together with the guys on base and had a lot of opportunities to drive in runs.”

Edman had an RBI double and a two-run double from outside the mop-up spot in a 10-2 Game 4 win over the Mets in New York. He said that it “still feels strange to me to go fourth,” and even manager Dave Roberts said, “When we signed him, I never thought he would go fourth in a postseason game.”

But with Freeman, a mediocre hitter, sidelined by a sprained right ankle, the Mets started left-hander Sean Manaea – who limited the Dodgers to two earned runs and two hits in five innings of New York's 7-3 Game 2 victory – and Edman a far more dangerous batsman from the right side, it was the right choice on Sunday night.

After Ohtani took the lead in the bottom of the first with a single to center and secured third on a single from Teoscar Hernández off the centerfield wall, Edman fell behind in the count, 2-1, but remained at 79 mph per hour back. and away sweeper who blasted a two-run double into the left field corner for a 2-1 lead.

“Manaea actually made a really good throw with the backdoor sweeper,” said Andrew Friedman, the team’s president of baseball operations. “His ability to get through that and persevere down the line, I think, was really disappointing for Manaea.”

Edman's home run in the third inning with Teoscar Hernández aboard was a stunner. Manaea took the lead with another 1-2 count and tried to sneak a 91 mph fastball across the zone past Edman, who threw up a ball that left his bat at 104 mph 406 feet across the left center field wall flew, giving him a 4th place -1 lead.

“I heard on TV that some people call him 'Little Guy Tommy,' but there's nothing small to be said about his racket,” said Kiké Hernández, a colleague in the energy field. “He has a lot of pop, especially from the right side. He carried the offense in this series. He's locked up. Got the job done. MVP.”

Edman opened the playoffs in center field, but moved to shortstop in Game 3 of the NL Division Series against San Diego when Miguel Rojas aggravated a left adductor muscle strain. Rojas hopes to return for the World Series against the New York Yankees, but if he is activated he will likely be used as a reserve.

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Edman, who is batting .341 (15 for 44) with an .810 OPS, one home run, three doubles and 12 RBIs in 11 playoff games, will likely remain at shortstop, and Kiké Hernández, who is .303 (10 for 33) bats ) with an OPS of .863, two homers and five RBIs, remains in the lineup in center field or at third base.

“I think Tommy was the MVP, hands down,” Ohtani said in Japanese. “Not just in this series… he came in the middle of the season, but he did a really good job, even things that don't show up in numbers. I think he’s a wonderful player.”

Roberts added: “I trust him. The boys trust him. He made great defensive plays for us and scored big goals. We’re just very lucky to have a player like Tommy.”

Edman missed the first four months of the season while recovering from wrist surgery and an ankle sprain, and did not play his first game with the Dodgers until August 19. He posted a .237 batting average with a .711 OPS, six home runs and 20 RBIs in 37 games, and although he finished the season going 2-for-30, he found his stroke in October.

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Another big night at the plate for Edman, capped by an NLCS MVP award, made for an emotional evening in Section 105 of the box level of Dodger Stadium, where the Edman family, including father John, Tommy's baseball coach at La Jolla Country Day School, was present, sat.

“We definitely had a little tear in our eyes,” John Edman said. “I mean it was obviously a tough season for him as he didn't know when he was going to be ready because of the injury and I think he was pretty frustrated. The fact that it happens like this is something very special.

“When he hit the double, we were crazy. When he hit the home run, the entire group was thrown into disarray. And the MVP chants…that blew me away. It was incredible.”

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.