6:22pm: Manager Dave Roberts tells reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) this afternoon that Edman, who is in center field today, may be on the grass on a regular basis going forward against left-handed pitching. He added that Edman could also see time at second base depending on how he looks running full-speed following his ankle injury.
5:39pm: Dodgers utility man Tommy Edman is being activated from the injured list today, the club announced today. Rookie center fielder Justin Dean was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move to make room for Edman on the roster.
Edman, 30, joined the Dodgers in a three-team trade with the White Sox and Cardinals last year. In 123 regular season games since then, Edman has slashed .231/.285/.403 with 18 homers, nine steals, and a 17.9% strikeout rate in 485 plate appearances. That’s good for only a wRC+ of 90, although it’s worth noting that Edman hit .328/.354/.508 during the Dodgers’ World Series run last year and even earned NLCS MVP honors for his work against the Mets.
The switch-hitter was signed to an extension during the offseason that guaranteed him $74MM over five seasons. That might seem like a hefty price to pay for a player who is typically below average offensively, but Edman makes up for his less than impactful bat by being a Gold Glove caliber defender capable of playing virtually any position on the diamond. He’s primarily played second base and shortstop throughout his career, but also has more than 600 innings of work both in center field and at third base over the course of his career.
After splitting time fairly evenly between shortstop and center field last year, Edman has mostly played second base with semi-regular reps in center and at the hot corner during the 2025 campaign. That’s when he hasn’t been on the injured list, as the Dodgers have needed to get through much of the season without him on the roster due to a pair of ankle injuries. The most recent occurred in early August and has left him shelved for just over a month. Now that he’s healthy, he joins a Dodgers lineup that also recently saw Will Smith and Max Muncy some back from injuries of their own.
With both Edman and Muncy back in the fold to handle regular duties at second and third base, that could leave rookie Hyeseong Kim without a regular position in the lineup. The Dodgers have at times in recent weeks suggested that Kim could get looks in left field over struggling veteran Michael Conforto. Perhaps that will come to pass now that Edman has return to bump Kim off the keystone, given his 78 wRC+ on the year and similarly mediocre performance in recent weeks. Regardless of what sort of domino effects Edman’s return from the injured list might have on the Dodgers’ lineup down the stretch, it can only be a good thing for Los Angeles to have a deeper cache of options from which to work as they look to stave off the Padres in the NL West and defende their 2024 World Series championship in October.
As for Dean, the 28-year-old rookie has appeared in 18 games with the Dodgers this year. That work has almost exclusively been as a pinch runner and defensive replacement, as Dean has just two MLB plate appearances to his name that saw him go 0-for-2 with one strikeout, though he is 1-for-1 on the basepaths in the majors. A 17th rounder plucked by the Braves organization during the 2018 draft, Dean has parts of four seasons at Triple-A under his belt where he’s slashed .233/.340/.350 with 57 steals in 69 attempts. He’ll head back to the minor leagues for the time being, but could still be an option for the Dodgers off the bench later this year if the need for a speedster arises.
Kim has more upside than Edman but both are nice assets as utility players.
A ham sandwich has more upside than Conforto
My boy Dean got paid to watch some ball games from the dugout and occasionally hit the field, love to be him lol
And he did what was asked of him, and did it well.
Good to have Tommy Tanks back in the mix. It can be argued that that wRC+ is more accurate than OPS+ but by the second measurement Edman is roughly league average as a hitter. None of these stats put a number on defensive versatility, though.
I often see this argument for wRC+ over OPS+ but they are almost always within one point of difference when i compare them. Edman for instance with an 88 OPS+ for the season, 98 for career. wRC+ is 87 for the year and 98 for career.
Edman is essentially a younger version of Chris Taylor. Taylor was important to the team for his versatility, and his ability to lengthen the lineup while giving other players rest days.
He was always in the lineup, just at various positions.
With Muncy and Edman back, the lineup just got much stronger overall.
We hope. Can any of them pitch?
Finish strong Tommy. You need to have another monster postseason so Cardinals fans have something to do in October.
Kim does not look confident in the outfield. Rather see Edman out there even with the bum wheels….
Oh great, so Conforto drops only to strong-side platoon instead of all the way the bench. (I am skeptical Kim gets much of a look in LF).
I think Kim will get a runway to see how he can contribute in the postseason. His infield glove work is excellent.
His speed on the bases is excellent. And if he can get hot like he was to start the year? It could be interesting.
Conforto has shown flashes of becoming a decent guy again. But I think good confidence is shot at the moment, leading to him making and looking bad in big situations. There’s a strong chance he won’t name the postseason roster. He’s a rally killer. And that’s the one thing you can be in the postseason.
Same with Yates and Scott. They are almost guaranteed to make a situation worse when they come in. Yates looked pretty good until he gave up a home run, again.
Roberts has to keep trying them out in various situations to see how viable they’ll be in the postseason. And what roles they might occupy. At the moment they barely qualify for low leverage situations because again, they consistently make whatever situation they come into worse. And in the postseason you can’t give life to a team you’re thumping.
Sorry for all the typos. It’s not letting me edit my post.
Unless the Dodgers sign Tucker in the offseason, I like an outfield of Pages in CF, Mookie in RF and Teo in LF. Kim, Edman and Freeland rotate through 2B and SS. Freeman and Smith are obvious. The post-season will help keep decide on Muncy versus a free agent. It won’t be Arenado, maybe Munetaka although he has regressed, too.
I believe we should all know by now, any guesses about the outfield alignment that includes Mookie Betts is not real.
I indicated that it is what I like and what I would do trying to field what I think you be best for the team. But I agree that it is unlikely to happen without either an injury to Mookie or a request by him. For most players a 0.250 average and a pace to hit 19 homers over a full season is pretty good, but not by Mookie standards.
It’s less than unlikely, it just isn’t going to happen. That ship has sailed. The Dodgers are thrilled by the way Mookie has played SS and don’t feel it has hurt him at the plate. He has hit both well and not in stretches while playing this position. That said I agree Teo should be in LF, Pages in RF or CF depending who they get in free agency or comes up.
Was hoping they’d have the nads to dump Conforto when Edman returned.
While paying him $17 million, they… Can’t ‘fford to
They can afford to, but they won’t — and the reason is analytics, which basically say that he’s been unlucky.
Most of the commenters here love the analytics game, until they see it played. There’s irony in them thar hills.
For me it is more than Conforto’s analytics, I just like Kim’s intangible energy. Conforto adds less than Kim, Edman or Freeland for me. I agree Conforto has been a little unlucky, but on a team with Shohei, Freddie, Will, Mookie, Teo and Max, Conforto seems like the odd guy out.