Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Thank you, Miguel Vargas. Sorry about how things turned out for you. For the Dodgers, though, the midseason trade that snagged both Michael Kopech and Tommy Edman for Miguel Vargas and a couple of prospects will surely go down as one of the best deadline acquisitions in team history. Kopech has become an anchor in the amazing and revitalized Dodgers bullpen, and Tommy Edman has just been named the Most Valuable Player of the NLCS.
Edman’s performance was remarkable. Forced into service as the Dodgers everyday shortstop after the injury to Miguel Rojas, Edman shined on both sides of the ball. His solid defense kept the Mets in check all series, but nobody could have expected his outshining all the other MVPs in this star-studded lineup.
“Early in the year, I never thought I would be in this situation today,” Edman said in a postgame interview. “Everything lined up for me to be on this team and have the success that we’ve had. Now we’re going to the World Series. It’s crazy.”
Edman’s bat was on fire in this series. He had eleven hits in the the six-games series, posting a .407 batting average for the NLCS. In addition, he absolutely went off in the clinching game 6, driving in four runs on the evening, thanks to a clutch RBI double in the first innning that gave the Dodgers their lead and a two-run homer in the third that gave the team the ability to coast to a relatively easy victory.
“It’s something you dream about,” he said of the MVP trophy and his performance. “You prepare for these big moments.”
And as for hitting cleanup in a lineup with Ohtani, Betts and others? “That’s still a little weird to me,” Edman said with a laugh.
There will be moments in the future when Shohei, Mookie, and Freddie will be shine more brightly, but for this series anyway, there was no brighter star in the LA night than Tommy Edman.
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