Breaking News: Shohei Ohtani was unexpectedly passed over for the MLB Golden At-Bat by the Dodgers’ new utility player.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are already well on their way to repeating the World Series in 2025;

they have signed two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to a long-term contract,

their starting rotation is getting healthier every day,

and superstar Shohei Ohtani may be making a comeback to the mound.

They could now receive an even greater boost from Major League Commissioner Rob Manfred.

In order to allow teams to send any hitter to the plate regardless of who is scheduled to hit,

Manfred has proposed the introduction of a “Golden At-Bat” rule.

Even while the plan is purely speculative and probably won’t be implemented for the upcoming season,

a team like the Dodgers might gain more from it than most.

They would have several future Hall of Famers to pick from if they had Ohtani,

Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts in the lineup.

The Athletic’s Eno Sarris, however, is surprised to say that the Dodgers shouldn’t use a Golden At-Bat to leverage any of those players.

Instead, he selected Tommy Edman, a utility player for the squad, as the best option.

You’re going to put Edman out there with the game on the line on a team that has Freddie Freeman,

Shohei Ohtani,

and Mookie Betts?

It was written by Sarris.

“We have witnessed Edman’s clutch play throughout the past six seasons, as well as during this postseason.

Edman is the most clutch player since 2019 began,

if you use FanGraphs’ definition of clutch,

which is essentially how much better a player performs in a high-leverage situation than they would perform in a low-leverage situation.

Edman might be the best option for a single at-bat according to some analytical statistics,

but it would be difficult to pass over players like Ohtani,

who recently won his third MVP award as a designated hitter after slashing.310/.390/.646 with 59 steals,

130 RBI,

and 54 home runs during the previous season.

While Edman played 139 at-bats with the Dodgers in 2024,

he only hit.237/.294/.417.

There is still plenty to learn about a possible MLB Golden At-Bat.

Is it possible for the other team to switch pitchers?

Does being able to step up in the clutch have a greater impact than hitting consistently?

Would switch hitting be more likely in this situation? However,

if such a rule is ever put into effect,

it will undoubtedly help a team with as many hitting possibilities as the Dodgers.