LOS ANGELES — At long last, the Los Angeles Dodgers will have their starting second baseman back. Tommy Edman will be activated off the 60-day injured list ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, manager Dave Roberts confirmed Monday, marking the end of a rehab process from offseason ankle surgery that spanned more than six months.Except Edman won’t be the everyday guy at second base, at least to start.While Edman will be on the active roster on Tuesday, he will not be in the starting lineup. Edman is expected to make his season debut on Wednesday, though he will be available off the bench Tuesday. While there are no lingering concerns about Edman’s ankle, the Dodgers will be mindful of his usage and plan to start him three to four times a week. When Edman is in the lineup, he won’t be limited to second base. Roberts will use Edman as a super-utility player, with Edman also seeing time at third base and in left field.“It’s been a few years just nagging, and you know, even with the surgery, they were still kind of trying to get over the hump with feeling good,” Roberts said before Monday’s 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. “(Surgery) was important just so we can hopefully get it behind us.”The Dodgers will designate Santiago Espinal for assignment as the corresponding move. That the Dodgers will utilize Edman in a more versatile role than they first envisioned made Espinal’s spot on the roster redundant.Edman’s balky right ankle dates back nearly two years, when he sprained it on a rehab assignment with the St. Louis Cardinals shortly before he was dealt to Los Angeles ahead of the 2024 trade deadline. While he tried to play through it during the 2025 season, Edman’s production dipped dramatically, and he still spent nearly three months on the IL. When he returned in August, he was not 100 percent and was confined to second base. Much of Edman’s value comes from his ability to play around the diamond, and the Dodgers will take the tradeoff of having his versatility, even if it means slow-playing his return to full-time action.The Dodgers can space out Edman’s playing time via platoons at second base and in left field, though they’d certainly like more production out of the former. Alex Freeland continues to showcase strong defense at second but entered Monday with a .231 average and a .699 OPS since being recalled from Triple A at the end of May. Freeland has seen the bulk of the reps at second base, with Miguel Rojas available against lefties, though that might change given Edman’s production against left-handed pitching.The left-field platoon of Alex Call and Ryan Ward has also fared fine. Ward entered Monday with an .845 OPS over 41 plate appearances since being called up from Triple A. The Dodgers would like to see more of Ward while they await Teoscar Hernández’s return from a left hamstring strain.