ITB Player Outlook: Tommy Edman

When Tommy Edman got the call in early June that he was being promoted to St. Louis’ big league squad, most fans dismissed the 24-year-old as just a temporary piece, a short-term replacement for the injured Jedd Gyorko. Despite his .869 OPS and 9 steals at the AAA level, the coaching staff, front office and even Edman himself didn’t see much room in a stacked Cardinals infield, however, bad Matt Carpenter’s struggles were. Nobody could have seen how much the Stanford product would contribute to a team that went from .500 at the All-Star Break to the NLCS, and although it remains to be seen exactly what his role will be come Opening Day, it sure looks like John Mozeliak got a steal in the 6th round of the 2016 draft.

Despite hitting a few slumps at the plate in the late summer months, Edman’s red-hot September/October and superb all-around defense put him at 4th on the team in wins above replacement(WAR) by the end of the season at 3.8, ranking only behind Jack Flaherty, Kolten Wong and Paul DeJong despite playing just 92 games. Although Mike Shildt’s decision to use him often in the outfield was often met with criticism, looking at the numbers tells a different story, one that actually shows Edman accumulated positive defensive runs saved (DRS) at every position he played. His 6 DRS at 2nd base ranked 4th in the NL, despite playing a fraction of the innings that the top 3 (Kolten Wong, Kiké Hernandez, and Ozzie Albies) played.

But what about Matt Carpenter? Mike Shildt’s insistence that the third base job is Carpenter’s to lose, even considering the $37 million in guaranteed money he will receive over the next two years, came as a surprise to many considering Edman’s success. According to Derrick Goold, both the managerial staff and front office are more in favor of using Edman as a sort of “super-utility man,” and it seems quite likely that we will see him everywhere on the diamond besides 1st base, behind the plate and on the mound. The Cardinals hope he can bring a versatile, dynamic element to their lineup comparable to someone like the switch-hitting Marwin Gonzalez in 2017, who slashed .303/.377/.530 and provided solid defense at every infield and outfield position for the world-champion Astros. Edman is already the better defender of the two, and if Carpenter’s offensive struggles continue into 2020, Mike Shildt will have no choice but to keep the “super-utility man” at third base.

Even if Edman ends up coming off the bench a fair amount, his value late in games is incredibly high. Not only can he come in almost anywhere on the field as part of a double switch or late-game defensive replacement, but his offensive skill set brings a lot more to the table than that of someone like Yairo Muñoz or Brad Miller. His ability to hit from both sides of the plate effectively prevents opposing managers from getting the matchup they want out of the bullpen, and especially if Harrison Bader is playing regular innings in CF, Edman’s speed on the basepaths becomes even more crucial. His sprint speed of 29.4 ft/s ranks 29th in all of baseball, and if we learned anything from last year, we know Mike Shildt won’t back down from his aggressiveness when it comes to stealing bases. The Cardinals are one of only two teams, along with the Marlins, to have four players in the top 30 of the sprint speed ranks (Tyler O’Neill, Lane Thomas, and Bader along with Edman), making up one of the most exciting young cores in MLB. Though Edman’s contributions to St. Louis’ success in 2019 were substantial all around, perhaps the most impressive was the “spark” he gave them when it was most needed. When he got the call down in Memphis, the Cardinals were just coming off of their worst stretch of the season, a 9-18 May that took all the excitement away from a scorching hot April. The club still treaded water throughout most of June and July, but towards the end of the year, they went as their young third baseman went. In the heat of a three-way division race, Edman’s OPS+ shot up from a below-average 82 in August to 151 in September, finally giving the Cards the offensive jolt they needed after getting by on stellar pitching for much of the year. When Dexter Fowler finally settled in at the leadoff spot, Edman found his best production hitting 2nd, posting a .345/.412/.517 line and helping to create RBI opportunities for Paul Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna behind him. Hopefully, Mike Shildt realizes the talent he has in the 5’9”, 180 lb Swiss Army knife that Edman has become, and that he can provide that spark to lead St. Louis back to the promised land.

- Evan Walsh (@evan_walsh24 on twitter)