The Los Angeles Dodgers found a key role player in Tommy Edman at last year’s trade deadline, bringing him over from the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-team deal.
In the following months, Edman proved to be a stabilizing, highly productive piece for the Dodgers lineup. At the most pivotal time of the season, he exceeded expectations and became someone the organization wanted around for years to come.
Edman’s switch-hitting ability played a big role in the National League Championship Series, earning him MVP honors. The number of elite switch-hitting players at the Major League level is slim, and for Edman, his path to it started at a very young age.
“I think it’s dying out because it’s really hard,” Edman said. “You’ve got two completely different swings and it’s hard to manage one swing as it is.
“I started to mess around with it going back to Little League. I would just hop in there left-handed from time to time when I was like 11 and 12. And then I finally started doing it right before my freshman year of high school.
“Actually went away from it my sophomore and junior year. After I committed, during the summer of my junior year, my college coaches said, ‘Hey, why don’t you try switch-hitting again. I think it will be a valuable asset to you.’ I ended up switching my senior year of high school and did well and just kept doing it ever since.”
Edman found a great deal of his power stroke against left-handed pitching. In the NLCS, he was exceptional batting right-handed.
Edman’s overall splits paint a picture that he is a much stronger bat as a righty, which can be traced in part to having separate processes for each approach.
“I have different cues, just because my top hand is dominant on the right side and bottom hand dominant on left side,” Edman added. “You can’t do exactly the same thing.
“For me, it’s kind of just more about using like the backside of my swing a little better, with the left hand and left back hip. I think I do a better job of that naturally right-handed. So it’s kind of just trying to get the swings a little bit closer to each other so they’re a little bit easier to manage.”
The preparation that goes into hitting from both sides isn’t as easy as just stepping into the box, Edman has to do extra work to ready himself for it. On top of a player’s usual work, he feels that added load is all worth the while.
“Yeah, there’s a lot,” he acknowledged. “Definitely have to put in a little more work because you’ve got two sides to manage. But I think it’s helped out and paid off. There’s some right-handed pitchers that all face lefty. I’m glad I don’t have to face this guy right-handed. Same thing with lefty as well.”
Tommy Edman contract details
The Dodgers five-year, $74 million contract extension with Edman includes an option for a sixth year valued at $13 million.
Like many Dodgers contracts, his deal includes $25 million in deferred salary and a $3 million buyout for that possible sixth year. Edman received a $17 million signing bonus.
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