Los Angeles Dodgers Don't Need to Worry About NLCS MVP's Slow Start, Right?

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been discussed at length this offseason, mostly due to some believing that they have broken baseball and someone needs to do something. Yet, as spring games have gotten underway, the Dodgers sit at just 2-6, closer to the Chicago White Sox than the top of the standings.

It's hardly a cause for concern given that these games don't count against the regular season ledger, and when they win 100+-plus games this season, we'll all look back at this 2-6 start and laugh.

While the team's fortunes thus far are of no real concern, former Stanford baseball star Tommy Edman is one Dodger who is off to a slow start after helping catapult his team into the World Series with a National League Championship Series MVP performance. He went 11-for-27 against the New York Mets, with three doubles, a homer, and 11 RBI.

This spring--again, it's early--he's 1-for-11 with a single, a walk, and three strikeouts. At this point in camp, one decent game can turn all of those numbers right around, but in Edman's case, that game may not come.

The simple reason is his recent track record during spring games dating back to 2022. That year he went 2-for-24 (.083), and the following season he went 4-for-21 (.190). He missed camp last year while recovering from offseason surgery, which would keep him out until Los Angeles acquired him from the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline.

So how did he fare those two seasons?

In 2022, he ended up hitting .265 with a .324 OBP, finishing a bit above league average with a 106 wRC+. Paired with some stellar glove work, he ended up being a 5.3 fWAR player, adding 13 homers and 32 stolen bases to his stat line.

The following season he hit .248 with a .307 OBP, 13 homers, 27 stolen bases, and a 92 wRC+. He ended that season as a 2.4 fWAR player.

Either one of those versions of Edman would be perfectly suitable for the Dodgers. Obviously they'd prefer the slightly above league average version rather than the slightly below league average one, but the versatility he brings to the defense, as well as the tremendous glove that he possesses, make him a pretty high floor player, even with a down year at the dish.

The Dodgers won't need him to carry the offense in 2025, and if he is, then that's probably a bad sign for the club. He can, however, be a spark plug for the club in key moments that can have an impact that doesn't make it to the box score.

Edman has shown that he can go out and have a productive season with subpar spring stats. The key that fans should be looking for, and banking on, is that he comes out of camp healthy, and let the regular season numbers take care of themselves.