In a move that ultimately paid tremendous dividends, the Los Angeles Dodgers ‘wedged’ their way into a deal between the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals to acquire Tommy Edman as part of the three-team trade.
The Dodgers also received Michael Kopech in the deal, and the two went on to play prominent roles throughout the World Series run. For Edman, it was a sudden change as he was still on the injured list at the time while recovering from offseason wrist surgery and also a sprained right ankle he suffered while on rehab assignment.
He was not yet active for the Dodgers’ visit to Busch Stadium last season, so this weekend marks Edman first time back in St. Louis since the trade.
Prior to the series opener against his former team, Edman reflected fondly on his Cardinals career, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“I’ve got a lot of great memories here. From getting called up here to all the postseason runs we had, and all the great people I met along the way. It’s been great so far. Looking forward to playing some games here and seeing all the fans out there, and reconnecting with some old buddies.”
Edman added that getting an opportunity to play at Busch Stadium and reconnect with some familiar faces offers an opportunity at gaining full closure:
“Yeah, it was kind of abrupt last year. Just getting traded at the deadline, kind of seemingly out of nowhere, it was just a day there of packing up, going to the field, getting all my stuff and heading out. Haven’t been back to St. Louis since then. It’s been almost a year at this point now, so it definitely feels like I’ll get a chance to see all those guys again and move on.”
Prior to being traded, Edman had spent his entire career with the Cardinals. They drafted him in the sixth round (196th pick overall) in the 2016 MLB Draft.
Edman hit .265/.319/.408 with 121 doubles, 53 home runs and 222 RBI while appearing in 596 games for the Cardinals over five seasons.
Tommy Edman recovered from ankle soreness
Edman missed two weeks last month because of right ankle inflammation that stemmed from jamming it on a slide into second base. He was projected to return from the injured list once eligible, but that was delayed due to lingering discomfort.
Edman then dealt with right ankle soreness this week but has since recovered.
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