DodgerFest buzzed with the usual mix of autograph lines and photo ops, but one absence stood out—Tommy Edman’s protective boot. Gone. The utility wizard, fresh off a November surgery, moved freely, chatting up fans like the ankle woes of 2025 were ancient history.
That sprained right ankle first sidelined Edman after the 2024 trade deadline deal that brought him from St. Louis in a three-team swap with the Cardinals and White Sox. He debuted three weeks late but exploded once healthy, slashing .407 in the NLCS with 11 RBIs to snag MVP honors, per Baseball-Reference data. The Dodgers locked him in with a five-year, $74 million extension, betting on his Gold Glove versatility and basepath menace.
2025 is a different story. Recurring ankle tweaks landed him on the IL twice—May and August stints bookending a June roll against the Mets and a July aggravation versus the Red Sox. Edman gutted through, but output dipped: just .229/.289/.383 over 134 games, with 19 homers and 69 RBIs, a far cry from his Cardinal peak of 30-plus steals in 2021 and 2022.
Limited to second base late-season, Edman sat five weeks hoping rest would heal it. No dice. Surgery followed in mid-November, what GM Brandon Gomes called a debridement. But Edman peeled back the curtain at DodgerFest.
“Good, good. Ankle’s feeling great,” he said. “I’ve hit every checkpoint along the way of the recovery. Haven’t had any setback so far. Everything is feeling good.”
No boot meant baseball drills resumed that week. Edman eyed full clearance, especially for center field patrols and those explosive bursts that fueled his 115 career steals.
“Last year and the past couple years, the hardest thing was stealing bases and accelerating, because of how much range of motion you need your ankle and the force you need to produce to accelerate,” he explained.
“So that will probably be one of the last checkpoints I need to hit, is making sure I can really accelerate the way that I need to.”
Surgery talks simmered all year. Multiple sprains piled up, imaging revealed ligament damage and bone spurs. They fixed it clean.
“We just repaired the ligament, just like you would with any other ligament. And had a couple bone spurs I had to get rid of,” Edman detailed.
Post-op verdict? Straightforward, with solid rehab promising a stronger joint.
Edman’s speed game could redefine the lineup. Imagine him swiping second, disrupting pitchers, stretching singles into trouble. His postseason pedigree shines: .258 average across 47 games, including that 2024 World Series push.
The Dodgers, chasing another ring, need Edman at 100%. He’s optimistic, ditching the boot for cleats.
“It obviously feels good to have the boot off and be walking around, getting back into some baseball activities,” he added.
“I’m encouraged, I’m hopeful I’ll be able to get my ankle to a point where it’s 100% and hopefully be able to put all those issues behind me.”
