LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers had been hoping for Tommy Edman for three years, which, when you think about it, makes sense. Perhaps no franchise values ​​versatility more, and perhaps no player encapsulates it better. Edman plays superior defense at two premier positions, scores from both sides of the plate and has the ability to move and collect runners. When the Dodgers finally signed Edman over the summer, they didn’t know exactly what role they would play, but envisioned someone who would help them in a variety of ways.

What they didn’t foresee was what ultimately transpired – that Edman would collect 11 RBIs in a single postseason round, serve as the cleanup hitter in a pennant game and be named MVP of the National League Championship Series.

“It’s a crazy development,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Sunday’s 10-5 win over the New York Mets in Game 6. “I can’t say enough about the front office being able to sign him at the deadline. What he can do. “What we do for ourselves on the field and in the clubhouse – it’s just great.”

Edman’s season did not begin until August 19, 21 days after the Dodgers acquired him in a three-team trade with the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox that also netted them hard-throwing reliever Michael Kopech.

His right wrist was slow to heal after offseason surgery, delaying his return by a few months. At the end of June he was finally ready for rehab, but then he sprained his ankle during training. When the Dodgers signed St. Louis for Edman in late July, they evaluated his 2024 season based on a medical report and the small handful of scouts who came to Springfield, Missouri, to watch him in four rehab games.

It was enough to make a deal. Three months later, her vision for him crystallized.

“You see how he fits all over the diamond, the compliment to our team with the speed, you can see the baseball instincts,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. “And obviously this moment doesn’t bother him.”

The 29-year-old Edman batted .407 in the NLCS and became the third player ever with more than 11 hits and more than 11 RBIs in a single postseason, joining Bobby Richardson in the 1960 World Series and David Ortiz in the 2004 American League Championship Series series. When an adductor tear prevented Miguel Rojas from making the NLCS roster, Edman moved from center field to shortstop, creating the opportunity for Enrique Hernández, who was famously good in October, to continue working the bats. And when Freddie Freeman’s sprained right ankle prevented him from starting Game 6, Edman provided the early performance the Dodgers needed, hitting a two-run double down the left field line in the bottom of the first and a two-run hit -Home run launched left-center field in the bottom of the third.

The only other Dodger to collect 11 RBIs in a single postseason series is Corey Seager in 2020.

“It’s pretty crazy, especially given the history of the organization, to have set this record,” Edman said. “A big part of that is a credit to the guys on the team. We had really good at-bats throughout the series. Our entire lineup was really good. Any number of guys could have won MVP.”

One of these candidates disagreed.

“Tommy is clearly the MVP in my opinion,” Shohei Ohtani said through an interpreter after an NLCS in which he safely reached base 17 times. “He’s doing things, not just this postseason but during the regular season, contributing in places where it doesn’t really reflect the stats. But I think the common theme of this season was that a lot of people, different people, stepped up.”

The Cardinals established themselves as one of the sport’s preeminent franchises through a player development system that continually transformed lesser-respected talent into legitimate Major League contributors. Edman, a sixth-round pick out of Stanford in 2016, was one of the youngest. He became a starter in 2020, won a Gold Glove at second base in 2021 and collected 5.3 FanGraphs wins above replacement in 2022. He delivered an OPS of .725, collected 48 extra-base hits, stole 32 bases and excelled with three ups – the middle positions – second base, shortstop and center field.

Because no matter how much the Dodgers demanded, the Cardinals were hardly willing to deal Edman. A deal never materialized. That finally changed in mid-2024, when a glut of position players and a desire to start pitching made him a trade candidate. An early permutation had the Cardinals shipping Edman to the White Sox for right-hander Erick Fedde. Then the Dodgers jumped in. The White Sox, in rebuild mode while navigating a historically poor season, had no use for Edman, who was just a year and a half removed from free agency. Instead, the Dodgers sent them a package of infield prospects led by Miguel Vargas. The Cardinals got Fedde and veteran outfielder Tommy Pham. The Dodgers hosted Edman and Kopech, who anchored the ninth inning and opened Game 6 of the NLCS.

Gomes said, “I don’t know where we would be without these guys.”

However, Edman was an investment. It wasn’t until the third week of August that he was healthy enough to play in major league games. And it wasn’t until the second week of September, during a home series in which Edman had four hits against the Chicago Cubs, that his swing actually felt right for the first time. Edman’s numbers dropped after that – his slash line was just .153/.261/.305 in his final 69 regular-season plate appearances – but then he started to make his mark throughout October.

He did it by moving runners over the ball with bunts and bringing them into play with home runs. By competing against the left, but also asserting himself against the right. By blocking center field but also taking over at shortstop.

Now that he’s facing the New York Yankees in a highly anticipated World Series matchup, he may be peaking at just the right time.

“Compared to everyone else, I’m pretty much in June right now,” Edman said. “I played baseball for about three months. Everyone else played for about seven months. I don’t want to say it’s an advantage, but I think having this time off makes me feel a bit fresher.”