What if I told you that the Miami Marlins traded the poster boy for old school, bat to ball hitting, in Luis Arraez, and you could still argue that baseball’s best hit tool resides in South Beach. If say wouldn’t call me crazy, you’d be lying, but it really is true. Xavier Edwards puts bat on ball better then just about any body. What’s wild is the average baseball fan probably doesn’t even know who Xavier Edwards even is. I do not blame them either because who is actually watching Marlins baseball at this point but nonetheless, Xavier Edwards is a joy to watch. But before I bore you with his contact rates, let me introduce you to Mr. Edwards.

Xavier Edwards was taken in the 1st round all the way back in 2018 by scouting mastermind, AJ Preller and the San Diego Padres out of North Broward in Florida. Edwards got off to a hot start to his pro career, hitting .384 with a 169 wRC+ in 21 rookie ball games. He continued to mash through the lower levels of the padres system, batting .300 all the way through high A. He was starting to gain some traction as a high profile prospect when after the 2019 MiLB season, in usual Preller fashion, the Padres sent him to Tampa with Hunter Renfroe in exchange for Tommy Pham and Jake Cronenworth. Once we got Minor League Baseball back in 2021, Edwards continued to hit for contact, batting .302 with a 113 wRC+ in 79 AA games. AAA was his first real struggle though, posting just a 84 wRC+. This is when his prospect status really fell off, he was viewed as a small, slap hitting 2B with no real potential. The Rays agreed, sending him off to Miami along with J.T. Chargois in exchange for pitchers Santiago Suarez and Marcus Johnson. This trade has turned out to be a massive win for the Marlins as Edwards is doing what he’s doing and JT Chargois was a quality reliever for them and recently earned them a decent prospect haul from Seattle. It is rare you see a Minor Leaguer get moved twice before they even debut, and then go on to have big league success, but here we are.

So what exactly is Xavier Edwards doing at the big league level, well, let me tell you. Edwards actually debuted at the back end of last season and was not great. He was serviceable enough but nothing truly convincing. Edwards slashed .295/.329/.333 with a 0 HRs in 30 games. Edwards was hitting for average but not really doing anything else, not walking, not hitting for power, or even playing great defense. Coming into 2024, Edwards lost the Starting SS job for a frankly, piss poor Marlins team. After playing some solid ball in AAA, Edwards finally earned the promotion and he has ran with it. Since coming up, he has slashed a ridiculous .350/.435/.427. He is also making a significant impact on the basepaths, swiping 21 bags with easy plus run times. Say what you will about batting average but .350 is unbelievably impressive, especially with the game in the state it is.

Finally everyone’s favorite part, the analytical piece. Edwards made a tangible adjustment that I believe was the key to his breakout. Though somewhat unconventional for a contact hitter like Edwards, he became selective. In what was a subpar 2023, Edwards was very aggressive. He walked at just a 3.6% rate, a minuscule rate and posted an O-Swing of 33%. 2024 has been a whole different story, Edwards is walking at a 14% clip and is posting an O-Swing of just 18%. That is a mind boggling shift in approach and has helped him to a 146 wRC+, a wild jump from just 81 last season. His analytical profile is as interesting as they come, he hits the ball about as soft as anybody, but is still something of an analytical darling. He doesn’t hit it hard, but he knows how to leverage, his Sweet Spot rate is elite at 37.7%. He also doesn’t swing very hard but has elite bat control, his squared up rate is up there with the best in baseball at 35.1%. Players like Edwards may have been commonplace back in the day but nowadays he is a dime a dozen.

Sources

Baseball Reference

Baseball Savant

Fangraphs

MiLB.com

SB Nation