Edman's consistency earns him everyday playing time

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The Dodgers' unprecedented 8-0 run to begin their title defense hasn't come easily. Every night, they've needed to find ways to win games, and more often than not, Tommy Edman has been right in the middle of the action.

"It just seems like every single night, he does something to help you win," manager Dave Roberts said earlier in the week. "It doesn't matter whether it's a sac fly, it's keeping the ball in the infield diving, or stretching to get a forceout at second base or getting a hit or taking a walk."

That Edman has been as impactful as he has early on isn't very surprising. The Dodgers had been eyeing him for some time before acquiring him ahead of last year's Trade Deadline, and their investment was rewarded when he starred during last year's postseason run, winning NL Championship Series MVP honors in the process.

What comes as somewhat a surprise is how Edman has been contributing. At this early juncture, there's been an impressive display of power.

Through his first eight games, Edman has gone 9-for-31 (.290), with four of those hits leaving the yard. He launched the first long ball of the Major League season in the Tokyo Series finale, and he appears well on his way to eclipsing his single-season career high of 13 homers, done twice in 2022 and '23.

Since joining the Dodgers as part of the three-team deal that also brought Michael Kopech to L.A., Edman has worked to unlock that power in his swing. Much of the work has been mechanical, with Edman timing up certain components to make the overall motion more impactful.

"In the past, I've gotten into positions with my swing where I'm unable to use my whole body," Edman said. "Right now, I feel like I'm able to use my lower-half better. Just overall, the sequencing of it, everything would kind of go at once in the past, and now I'm doing a good job of creating that force with the lower body starting from the ground, and letting the bat kind of act as a whip."

Notably, the switch-hitting Edman is also doing more damage from the left-hand side. Throughout his career, he's been more productive from the other side of the plate, to the point that he has opted to face right-handed pitchers while batting righty every now and then. Edman has a career .512 slugging percentage as a righty facing lefties, compared with .378 as a lefty facing righties.

This season, two of his four homers have come as a left-handed batter, though he's had twice as many at-bats from that side of the plate because the Dodgers have seen more right-handers. While it's difficult to draw long-term conclusions from a sample of eight games, the progress Edman has made has stood out to his manager.

"He's always been very good right-handed, and he worked really hard this past winter on the left-handed swing," Roberts said. "He is considerably better for me in the batter's box batting left-handed."

Similarly to how he's channeled his power stroke, Edman attributed his early improvements to being more mindful of his mechanics when he's hitting lefty.

"A lot of it is just staying connected and staying strong on my backside," Edman said. "I feel like when I start to fall off left-handed, it's because I'm drifting forward and losing my power and kind of collapsing down."

Last offseason, Los Angeles locked Edman up with a five-year, $74 million extension to ensure he would remain with the team through at least 2029, with a club option for '30. With his ability to play multiple positions at a high level -- although he's primarily been at second base in the early going -- Edman embodies the type of versatility that the Dodgers love to have on their roster.

If he can continue to build on the progress he's already made at the plate, then that deal will only look better and better.

"It's been a lot of work," Edman said. "It's kind of a constant process, always making little tweaks and finding different cues. But it's been nice to see some success early on in the season."