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'Clearly, the moment does not bother him': NLCS MVP Tommy Edman has been everything the Dodgers wanted -- and more
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers had spent three years coveting Tommy Edman, which, when you think about it, makes a lot of sense. Perhaps no franchise places a greater emphasis on versatility, and perhaps no player encapsulates it better. Edman plays superior defense at two premium positions, hits from both sides of the plate, possesses the ability to move runners over and drive them in. When the Dodgers finally landed Edman over the summer, they were hazy on a role but envisioned someone who would help them in a multitude of ways.
What they didn't foresee was what ultimately transpired -- that Edman would accumulate 11 RBIs in a single postseason round, serve as the cleanup hitter in a pennant-clinching game and become MVP of the National League Championship Series.
"It's a crazy trajectory," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Sunday's 10-5 victory over the New York Mets in Game 6. "I can't say enough about the front office being able to acquire him at the deadline. What he can do for us on the field, in the clubhouse -- it's just amazing."
Edman's season didn't begin until Aug. 19, 21 days after the Dodgers acquired him in a three-team trade with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago White Sox that also landed them hard-throwing reliever Michael Kopech.
His right wrist was slow to heal from offseason surgery, pushing his return back by a couple of months. He was finally ready to venture out on a rehab assignment by late June, but then he sprained an ankle during a workout. When the Dodgers engaged St. Louis on Edman in late July, they evaluated his 2024 season on the basis of one medical report and the small handful of scouts who descended upon Springfield, Massachusetts, to watch him play in four rehab games.
It was enough to finalize a trade. Their vision for him crystallized three months later.
"You see how he fits all over the diamond, the compliment to our team with the speed, you can tell the baseball instincts," Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. "And clearly, the moment does not bother him."
Edman, 29, batted .407 in the NLCS, becoming the third player ever with 11-plus hits and 11-plus RBIs in a single postseason series, alongside Bobby Richardson in the 1960 World Series and David Ortiz in the 2004 American League Championship Series. When Miguel Rojas' adductor tear prevented him from cracking the NLCS roster, Edman moved from center field to shortstop, creating a pathway for Enrique Hernández, notoriously good in October, to continue getting at-bats. And when Freddie Freeman's sprained right ankle prevented him from starting Game 6, Edman provided all the early production the Dodgers needed, poking a two-run double down the left-field line in the bottom of the first and launching a two-run homer to left-center field in the bottom of the third.
The only other Dodger to amass 11 RBIs in a single postseason series is Corey Seager in 2020.
"It's pretty crazy, especially with the history of the organization, to have tied that record," Edman said. "A huge part of that is a testament to the guys on the team. We had really good at-bats throughout the series. Our whole lineup was really good. Any number of guys could have won MVP."
One of those candidates disagreed.
"Tommy, I think, clearly is the MVP," Shohei Ohtani, speaking through an interpreter, said after an NLCS that saw him reach base safely 17 times. "He does things, not just this postseason but during the regular season, contributing in places where it doesn't really reflect on the stat line. But I think the common theme for this season has been a lot of people, different guys, have been stepping up."
The Cardinals established themselves as one of the sport's pre-eminent franchises through a player-development system that continually turned lesser-regarded prospects into legitimate major league contributors. Edman, a sixth-round pick out of Stanford in 2016, was among the latest. He became a regular in 2020, won a Gold Glove at second base in 2021 and accumulated 5.3 FanGraphs wins above replacement in 2022, during which he provided a .725 OPS, accumulated 48 extra-base hits, stole 32 bases and excelled at three up-the-middle positions -- second base, shortstop and center field.
For as much as the Dodgers asked, the Cardinals were hardly ever open to dealing Edman. A trade never got close. That finally changed midway through 2024, when a glut of position players and a desire for starting pitching made him a trade candidate. An early permutation had the Cardinals sending Edman to the White Sox for right-hander Erick Fedde. Then the Dodgers jumped in. The White Sox, in rebuild mode while navigating through a historically bad season, had no use for Edman, who was only a year and a half away from free agency. Instead, the Dodgers sent them a package of infield prospects headlined by Miguel Vargas. The Cardinals got Fedde and veteran outfielder Tommy Pham. The Dodgers received Edman and Kopech, who solidified the ninth inning down the stretch and opened Game 6 of the NLCS.
Said Gomes: "I don't know where we'd be without those guys.
Edman, though, was an investment. It wasn't until the third week of August that he was healthy enough to play in major league games. And it wasn't until the second week of September, during a home series in which Edman homered four times against the Chicago Cubs, that his swing actually felt right for the first time. Edman's numbers slid thereafter, his slash line sitting at just .153/.261/.305 over his past 69 regular-season plate appearances -- but then he started to put his imprint all over October.
He did it by moving runners over with bunts and getting them in with homers. By mashing against lefties but also holding his own against righties. By locking down center field but also taking on shortstop.
Now, heading into a highly anticipated World Series matchup against the New York Yankees, he might be peaking at the right time.
"For me, relative to everybody else, I'm pretty much in June right now," Edman said. "I've played like three months of baseball. Everybody else has played like seven months. I don't want to say it's an advantage, but I think having that time off, I feel a little bit more fresh."
Statement of the International Table Tennis Federation on the 2026 Commonwealth Games Sports Programme
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) expresses profound disappointment regarding the non-inclusion of Table tennis and Para table tennis in the sports programme announced today by the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Scotland for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Our primary concern lies with the aspiring table tennis players across Commonwealth nations whose dreams of becoming Commonwealth Games Champions have been abruptly halted. The ITTF stands in solidarity with these athletes and commits to exploring alternative playing opportunities for them to showcase their talents.
While we acknowledge the challenges facing Glasgow 2026 and support efforts to create an innovative, cost-effective, and sustainable event model, we find the exclusion of Table tennis and Para table tennis perplexing. Our sport has consistently demonstrated unparalleled adaptability, successfully delivering events across diverse venues and temporary facilities under various inclusive competition formats. We firmly believe our sport was ideally positioned to help the organisers achieve their objectives.
The ITTF maintains that table tennis is not only one of the most cost-effective sports to deliver but also a key driver of revenue and fan engagement. Our sport has the potential to captivate a new generation of supporters in some of the worlds largest, youngest, and most commercially powerful markets, thereby contributing significantly to the long-term success of the Commonwealth Games.
Since our inclusion in 2002, Table tennis and Para table tennis have enriched the Commonwealth Games with iconic players such as Indias Sharath Kamal Achanta, Singapores Feng Tianwei, Englands Liam Pitchford, Nigerias Segun Toriola, and Australias Melissa Tapper, all of whom have etched their names in the events illustrious history.
The ITTF remains hopeful that these champions will have worthy successors at the 2030 edition, which will mark the centenary of the Commonwealth Games. The ITTF remains committed to working closely with the Commonwealth Games Federation and the future hosts during the next sport programme selection process, and to demonstrating how table tennis can add significant value to future editions.
One Month to Go: Worlds Young Stars Set to Shine in Helsingborg
With just one month remaining until the worlds most promising table tennis talents converge in Sweden, anticipation builds for the ITTF World Youth Championships 2024. From November 22nd to 29th, Helsingborg will witness the next generation of table tennis stars competing for glory across 14 prestigious titles.
After a memorable and successful edition of the event in Nova Gorica, Slovenia last year, Sweden takes the mantle and looks ahead to hosting a spectacular event. The historic coastal city of Helsingborg, with its deep-rooted passion for table tennis, prepares to welcome athletes in both U19 and U15 categories at the state-of-the-art Helsingborg Arena.
The championship structure promises an action-packed week, beginning with team events across the first two days before transitioning to individual competitions. The schedule builds to a thrilling crescendo with mixed doubles champions crowned on November 27th, doubles champions determined on November 28th, and singles champions emerging on November 29th.
The complete list of participating athletes is now available, offering a glimpse of the emerging talent set to compete across all age categories and events. With the worlds top youth players converging in Sweden, the championship promises to deliver another spectacular showcase of skill, determination, and sporting excellence. As the table tennis world counts down to this prestigious event, Helsingborg stands ready to write the next chapter in the sports rich history of youth championships.
Full player list available here.
Big-money rugby league convert Joseph Suaalii has been named in Australia's 34-man squad to travel to the northern hemisphere next month.
The 21-year-old former Sydney Roosters wing or centre is yet to play a professional rugby union game after a switch from league reportedly worth more than 5m Australian dollars (2.6m).
Uncapped former Leicester wing Harry Potter, now with Western Force, has also been named in Joe Schmidt's squad for their tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Schmidt said that Suaalii - who he will use at centre, wing or full-back - needed to be brought in now in preparation for Australia's home series against the British and Irish Lions next year.
"I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't conscious of the big deal that he's on and the profile that he has, because you cant not be aware of that," said Schmidt.
"As much as we think maybe it might have been better to come through [the second string Australia XV], part of it is that we play the Lions next year.
"So if he doesn't debut on this tour, then there's very little window. There may be one opportunity to play before the Lions next year, and that would be it. So for us, we feel a little bit of pressure to be able to fast-track him."
Waratahs fly-half Tane Edmed, 21, is the third uncapped player called up, while last year's World Cup captain Will Skelton is named.
The 32-year-old lock missed the Wallabies' summer Tests and the Rugby Championship because of commitments to French club La Rochelle.
"He's [Skelton's] keen as mustard," added Schmidt. "He didn't need any convincing to play for the Wallabies. He's a really positive character and he has real gravitas in the group."
Centre Samu Kerevi also returns to international rugby for the first time this year - but the 31-year-old, who plays his club rugby in Japan, and Skelton will be unavailable to face Ireland in Dublin on 30 November as the game falls outside the international window.
Australia first face England at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium on 9 November before playing Wales in Cardiff on 17 November and Scotland at Murrayfield on 24 November.
The Wallabies - who finished bottom of the Rugby Championship after recording only one victory, over Argentina - also named a 30-player Australia XV squad to travel to the UK for matches against Bristol on 8 November and England A at Twickenham Stoop on 17 November.
England will play the USA in the opening match of next year's Women's Rugby World Cup.
The Red Roses will get the tournament under way at Sunderland's Stadium of Light on 22 August.
The fixture list also sees Scotland and Wales face each other in their Pool B opener at the Salford Community Stadium in a double-header with Australia and Samoa.
Ireland, meanwhile, play world champions New Zealand in their final Pool C fixture on 7 September in Brighton.
Organisers are hoping the tournament will have the same impact on women's rugby in England as the Lionesses did on women's football when they won their home European Championships in 2022.
RWC2025 chief executive Sarah Massey-Taylor has described the tournament as a "showcase" of "the very best of women's rugby".
The 10th edition of the Womens Rugby World Cup will see a return to 16 teams for the first time since 2002, with Brazil becoming the first ever South American side to qualify for the tournament.
The Red Roses are drawn in Pool A and after their opening match in Sunderland will move to Northampton to face Samoa in their second match on 30 August, before taking on Australia in Brighton in their group finale on 6 September.
In total, there will be 24 pool fixtures, spread across six venues, including six double-headers at Northampton, Salford and Exeter.
The quarter-finals will be hosted in Exeter and Bristol, with the latter also the home for both semi-finals.
The final and bronze-medal match will be the seventh double-header of the tournament and held at Twickenham, with organisers unable to use its new "Allianz Stadium" name for contractual reasons during the World Cup.
BBC Sport has secured exclusive rights to broadcast every game of the tournament.
New Zealand hosted the last World Cup in 2022, defeating England in a dramatic final in front of a then record-breaking crowd for a women's fixture of 42,579 at Eden Park.
Select matches at next year's tournament will be shown on the BBC's linear channels, while every game will be available to watch live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.
BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra will also broadcast commentary on the tournament.
Cricket Australia looks to unify approach to managing quicks
Cricket Australia is creating a new role for a national pace-bowling coach to oversee the management of fast bowlers across international and domestic programmes, in a bid to prevent the spate of injuries that have been occurring and ensure a more coordinated approach to the handling of Australia's quicks.
The new role, which would be based in Brisbane, comes after a limited-overs tour of the UK where six fast bowlers were injured and six others were unavailable, although the role was devised before that tour. A debate is also raging within Australian cricket about whether the current contracting model for the best male cricketers is fit for purpose in the age of franchise cricket, with the management of fast bowlers front and centre in that discussion.
Vettori is highly regarded within the Australian set-up but is not working for CA around the year, as he has been allowed to take contracts as the head coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL and Birmingham Pheonix in the Hundred. It has meant that the likes of Clint McKay and Rob Cassell have been seconded into the Australian team as bowling coaches on an ad-hoc basis in recent times, but the new role would create some continuity. There would also be some consistency within the Australia A coaching staff, which has cycled through a multitude of different coaches in recent years on a series-to-series basis.
While there were a variety of injuries, there have also been some common themes including side strains, and soft tissue and back stress injuries that continue to plague Australia's fast bowlers. Green has become the fourth Australian fast bowler behind James Pattinson, Dwarshuis and Jason Behrendorff to undergo significant spine surgery to stabilise vertebrae in his back and prevent future stress fractures.
There has been some friction between CA and the state associations over the management of some of Australia's fringe fast bowlers in recent years, with the demanding international playing schedule meaning more players are required than ever before. Franchise opportunities have only added to the burden as individual players want to maximise their earnings during the winter months while the national and state teams would prefer them to manage their bodies in preparation for national and domestic duty.
One of the key job descriptions in the advertisement is "performing a lead role in the case management (including load planning and monitoring), off tour preparation and individual skill development of CA contracted pace bowlers and pace bowlers of national interest".
This has been a crunch point in recent years. CA's high-performance team has been able to manage its contracted fast bowlers fairly successfully, but issues have arisen when the men's team has needed to look beyond their contracted players. CA currently has nine contracted fast bowlers among a list of 23, not including the pace-bowling allrounders Green, Aaron Hardie and Mitchell Marsh.
But ahead of the UK tour, where the selectors wanted to rest Cummins entirely in order to prepare for India, and have Hazlewood and Starc play the England portion only, they needed bowlers for the six T20Is. With contracted bowlers Morris and Richardson unavailable, Johnson was selected alongside Bartlett and Ellis.
But CA were unable to tailor Johnson's preparation as an uncontracted player. He played 39 T20s and a first-class game between December and August including the BBL, Sheffield Shield, internationals, the IPL, T20 Blast, MLC and the Hundred without a break to do a pre-tour build in the same mould as Hazlewood and Starc were. He suffered a side strain in the Hundred and has yet to return to playing. There was a similar occurrence in 2023 where Johnson played the MLC, Global T20 in Canada and the Hundred before making his international debut for Australia, only to tear his hamstring on his ODI debut bowling more than four overs for the first time in five months.
Under the current memorandum of understanding, CA only offers up to 24 central contracts but there is a pool of money for players to qualify for a contract upgrade if they play enough games in the 12-month financial year. There is a thought within Australian cricket that that model is outdated, and the men's team would be better served contracting 30-plus players initially each year and carefully tailoring the 12-month playing and preparation schedules for a large group of fast bowlers in particular to avoid injuries and situations like the one the arose in the UK.
Alex Malcolm is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
Cricket dropped from Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games schedule
Though no specific reason was provided for the scrapping of cricket - as well as other sports like field hockey, badminton, shooting and wrestling, among others - Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Katie Sadleir said in a statement, "The 2026 Games will be a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow - an exciting first step in our journey to reset and redefine the Games as a truly collaborative, flexible and sustainable model for the future that minimises costs, reduces the environmental footprint, and enhances social impact - in doing so increasing the scope of countries capable of hosting." Budgets, it would appear, is the reason for the trimmed-down version of the CWG in 2026, and possibly subsequent editions.
The Asian Games has also brought cricket back, with the Hangzhou 2022 edition (held in 2023 following the Covid-19 pandemic). India won gold in both the men's and women's T20 events, with Afghanistan and Bangladesh winning silver and bronze respectively among the men, and Sri Lanka and Bangladesh finishing second and third among the women.
Even as cricket is out of the CWG schedule, the Olympics has added T20 cricket - for men and women - as one of five new disciplines for Los Angeles 2028. The final decision was taken at an International Olympic Committee meeting in Mumbai in October last year.
"Some of you might be wondering why [cricket] in LA," Niccolo Campriani, director of LA2028 local organising committee, had said at the time. "Well, the commitment to grow cricket in the US is real, and it's already happening with the launch of the very first Major League Cricket season earlier this year, which exceeded all expectations. And the [men's] T20 World Cup in 2024 coming to US and West Indies."
Konstas 43, Smith 0, NSW struggle despite Starc six-for
New South Wales 136 & 185 for 6 (Philippe 70*, Konstas 43, Boland 2-41) trail Victoria 272 and 246 (Harper 72, Rogers 59, Starc 6-81) by 197 runs
The Blues chase got off to a horror start as they lost 4 for 35. Boland was back to his unerring best with the new ball. He had Nic Maddinson caught at slip off a no-ball before nicking him off again with a brilliant legal delivery from around the wicket that angled in and seamed away.
He then trapped Smith lbw with a delivery that nipped back sharply from wide of off. Smith shouldered arms not expecting so much movement. Umpire Sam Nogajski thought it was hitting the stumps. It was a brave decision but, despite Smith's clear displeasure, replays suggested it was highly likely to be hitting the stumps.
Moises Henriques was trapped lbw by Fergus O'Neill before Ollie Davies fell nicking a loose drive off Will Sutherland.
Konstas held firm in the face of some excellent seam bowling. But he battled for fluency despite looking sound in defence. The moment he tried to expand he nearly came unstuck. On 23, he drove firmly at a Boland delivery that wasn't as full as it appeared. A thick edge flew to Peter Handscomb's right at second slip, but he could not reel it in at full stretch despite getting two hands to it.
The drop appeared to free Konstas up. He began to accumulate, moving to 43 alongside Philippe, who continued the form he showed in his unbeaten 45 in the first innings.
The Blues were 97 for 5 before Philippe and Sean Abbott steadied the innings. The two shared a 59-run stand before Abbott edged Sutherland to first slip.
Philippe reached a half-century for the second time this season and looks in good touch heading into his Australia A appearance in a few weeks.
Earlier in the day, Harper and Rogers produced an excellent 130-run partnership to put Victoria in a strong position before late hitting from O'Neill and Murphy pushed the game seemingly beyond the Blues reach. Harper made 72 and looked in complete control before holing out to wide fine leg when a predictable plan had been set for him.
Rogers made 59, his maiden first-class half-century, and looked very assured before he lost a battle with Nathan Lyon. Australia's No. 1 Test spinner went over the wicket to the left-hand batter for a period of time to dry him up. He fell trying to work against the spin and was caught at short leg.
Starc and Abbott threatened to blow the tail away but O'Neill and Murphy made 33 and 36 respectively with some lusty hitting and some good fortune. Starc finally castled both of them to finish with six wickets.
South Africa 308 (Verreynne 114, Mulder 54, Taijul 5-122) lead Bangladesh 106 by 202 runs
Verreynne took just 144 balls to score 114, becoming the only third wicketkeeper-batter from his country to get a hundred in Asia. Fittingly, the landmark came off a paddle sweep off Taijul Islam in the 86th over. Both his sixes were pumped once he was past the three-figure mark, one a slog sweep off Nayeem Hasan and the other a pull off Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Just before that, Mehidy had broken a frustrating ninth-wicket stand of 66 for Bangladesh. Dane Piedt, who batted firmly from No. 10, nudged and pushed his way to 32, and was trapped in front on his 87th delivery. It turned in and was given out on field. Piedt reviewed, and it returned an umpire's call. And the ball immediately after Verreynne's second six, Mehidy slowed it down to beat the same batter and have him stumped.
Verreynne particularly looked assured against Hasan Mahmud - who started the day alongside Taijul - nudging him past mid-on for three in the second over of the day, before clipping and driving him for boundaries two overs later.
Next over, in the 46th, Taijul had Mulder poking, only for the outside edge to fall short of slip. That had as much to do with Mulder playing with soft hands, as with the slowness of the surface. Mulder and Verreynne adjusted to the pitch, and calmly did the job against Taijul and Nayeem.
Both batters used the sweeps and the reverse sweep to great effect despite Nayeem turning the ball in appreciably on occasion. That was down to them taking a good stride forward to get to the pitch of the deliveries, and once set, confidently putting the ball away. The pair played the sweep or the reverse sweep off 38 deliveries against Taijul, Nayeem and Mehidy on the second morning, and hit 59 runs off them, including seven boundaries and a six.
Bangladesh posted a man close in at square leg to prevent the batters from earning comfortable singles from the sweep, and yet Verreynne got to fifty when he drilled one to the man there. Mulder got to his maiden Test half-century at the start of the 64th over, when he cut Nayeem for four behind point.
It was only in the over before that that Najmul Hossain Shanto brought Mahmud back into the attack, and in the over just after that Mahmud struck back to back. First, he pitched on a back of a length outside off, as the ball held its line. Mulder went for the punch, but edged to wide slip on 54. Next ball, Mahmud went much fuller, reversing the ball into Keshav Maharaj and beating his defense to uproot off stump.
But No. 10 Piedt first denied Mahmud a hat-trick and then annoyed Bangladesh with his firm blocks, ensuring that Verreynne could trust him while on his way to the hundred.
Himanshu Agrawal is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Rehan Ahmed recalled as England brace for 'raked' pitch in Pakistan decider
"They've had the rakes out, the fans and the heaters on the pitch," Brook said. "Everyone goes and looks at the wicket and says something different Hopefully, it's just like any other Pakistani pitch. It's good to bat on for the first few days and then hopefully, we can get a bit of turn out of it at the back end of the game."
"I think the conditions are going to be a little bit different," Brook said. "We played on an extremely flat pitch here last time. It was awesome to bat on, and we scored a good rate of knots. This game's probably going to be slightly different. It might turn earlier on: who knows? It might be a good pitch to start with and we get off to a flyer."
The lush square at Rawalpindi may have informed England's selection, with reverse-swing unlikely to be a major factor this week. In Multan, the strips either side of the Test pitch were cut short and were dry and abrasive by the second Test, enabling England's seamers to reverse the old ball. This week, there are only three strips cut across the square: the Test pitch and two practice pitches.
This summer, Rehan was outperformed by his offspinning younger brother Farhan in the County Championship and his returns fell away in white-ball cricket: he was dropped by Southern Brave early in the Hundred after two expensive outings, and was then left out of England's T20I and ODI squads against Australia in September.
Carse and Potts are both officially rested, with Atkinson returning after taking match figures of 4 for 145 in England's innings win in the first Test. Carse has been England's outstanding bowler of the tour, taking nine wickets at 24.33 across his first two appearances, but has bowled 67 overs in the series and has played back-to-back Tests.
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Rehan Ahmed, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Shoaib Bashir.
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