Tommy Edman

Thomas Hyunsu Edman (born May 9, 1995) is an American professional baseball utility player for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). On the international level, he represents the South Korea national baseball team.

Tommy Edman
Edman with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2022
St. Louis Cardinals – No. 19
Utility player
Born: (1995-05-09) May 9, 1995 (age 28) Pontiac, Michigan, U.S.
Bats: Switch Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 8, 2019, for the St. Louis Cardinals
MLB statistics (through 2023 season)
Batting average	.265
Home runs	53
Runs batted in	222
Stolen bases	106
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals (2019–present)
Career highlights and awards
Gold Glove Award (2021) Fielding Bible Award (2022)

Born in Pontiac, Michigan, and raised in San Diego, Edman played college baseball at Stanford University for three seasons before being selected by the Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft. He played in their minor league system before making his MLB debut in 2019 and quickly becoming a part of their starting lineup, playing various infield and outfield positions. He won a Gold Glove Award as the National League's top defensive second baseman in 2021.

Amateur career

Edman graduated from La Jolla Country Day School in San Diego, California, in 2013, where he was selected to an All-Academic Team.^[1] He attended Stanford University, where he played college baseball for the Stanford Cardinal. After his freshman year, he played in the New England Collegiate League for the Newport Gulls, where he was named an All-Star and was named best defensive player.^[2] After his sophomore season in 2015, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he batted .304,^[3] was named starting second baseman for the East Division All-Star team,^[4] and helped lead the Red Sox to the league championship.^[5] As a junior in 2016, Edman started every game at shortstop and batted .286 with 24 RBIs and led Stanford in runs (35), hits (61), triples (4) and stolen bases (8) in 54 games, earning a spot on the Pac-12 Conference first team.^[6] After his junior year, he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft.

Professional career

Minor league career

 

Edman with the Peoria Chiefs in 2017

Edman signed with the Cardinals and was assigned to the State College Spikes, where he spent the whole season, posting a .286 batting average with four home runs, 33 RBIs and 19 stolen bases in 22 attempts over 66 games. He was named a New York-Penn League All-Star with the Spikes. In 2017, he played for the Peoria Chiefs, Palm Beach Cardinals, and Springfield Cardinals, batting a combined .261 with five home runs and 55 RBIs in 119 total games between the three clubs.^[7]

Edman began the 2018 season with Springfield, where he was named a Texas League All-Star.^[8] During the season, he reached base in 32 straight games, breaking Springfield's all-time record.^[9] He was promoted to the Memphis Redbirds at the end of the season, helping them win the Pacific Coast League title. He was named a co-MVP of the PCL playoffs, along with teammate Randy Arozarena.^[10] In 126 games between Springfield and Memphis, Edman slashed .301/.354/.402 with seven home runs, 41 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases in 35 attempts.^[11] After the season, the Cardinals assigned Edman to the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League (AFL).^[12]

St. Louis Cardinals

2019

 

Edman with the Cardinals in 2021

Edman began the 2019 season back with Memphis, batting .305/.356/.513 with seven home runs, 29 RBIs, and nine stolen bases over 49 games.^[13] On June 8, his contract was selected and he was called up to the major leagues for the first time.^[14] He made his debut that night as a pinch hitter versus the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.^[15] He hit his first career home run on June 20 against the Marlins.^[16] On July 18, he hit his first career grand slam off of Robert Stephenson of the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.^[17] Over 92 regular-season games with St. Louis in 2019, Edman slashed .304/.350/.500 with 11 home runs, 36 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases in 16 attempts. He had the fastest sprint speed of all major league third basemen at 29.4 feet/second.^[18]

2020

Edman was named to the roster to begin the summer camp in 2020 to prepare for the upcoming shortened season, and shortly after was announced as the starting third baseman. Over 204 at-bats, he batted .250/.317/.368 with five home runs and 26 RBIs.^[19]

2021

In 2021, Edman was named the club's starting second baseman after the departure of Kolten Wong and the acquisition of Nolan Arenado.^[20] He earned the Major League Baseball Player of the Week Award for the National League after batting .426 with two home runs from August 23 through August 29.^[21] Edman appeared in 159 games for the 2021 season, slashing .262/.308/.387 with 11 home runs, 56 RBIs, 41 doubles, and thirty stolen bases over 641 at-bats.^[22] His 41 doubles tied with Ozzie Albies for second in the National League, after Bryce Harper's 42.^[23] He won the Gold Glove Award at second base, one of five Cardinals to win the award that year, an MLB record.^[24]

2022

Edman returned as the Cardinals' starting second baseman to open the 2022 season.^[25] In mid-May, after the demotion of starting shortstop Paul DeJong and the call-up of top second base prospect Nolan Gorman, Edman moved to shortstop.^[26][27] On June 11, 2022, Edman hit his first career walk-off home run and RBI, a two-run home run that secured a 5–4 victory versus the Cincinnati Reds.^[28] He finished the 2022 season slashing .265/.324/.400 with 13 home runs, 57 RBIs, 31 doubles, and 32 stolen bases over 577 at-bats in 153 games.^[29]

2023

 

Edman trots to third, 2023.

On January 13, 2023, Edman agreed to a one-year, $4.2 million contract with the Cardinals, avoiding salary arbitration.^[30]

2024

Edman and the Cardinals agreed to a two-year deal worth $16.5 million on January 22, 2024, again avoiding salary arbitration.^[31]

International career

In 2023, Edman was called to the South Korea national baseball team. He played during the 2023 World Baseball Classic as an infielder. In 11 trips to the plate, he had 2 hits and 1 walk. The team did not progress past pool play.^[32]

Personal life

Edman is the son of John Edman, Jr. and Maureen Kwak. He has Korean heritage from his mother’s side.^[33] His father John played four years of college baseball at Williams College in Massachusetts,^[34] and is a teacher and varsity baseball coach at La Jolla Country Day School, Edman's alma mater.^[35] His mother Maureen was born in South Korea and moved to the United States as a child.^[36] Edman's older brother, John, works in research and development for the Minnesota Twins.^[37] His younger sister, Elise, played volleyball at Davidson College^[38] and worked as a Systems Engineer for the Cardinals.

On November 23, 2019, Edman and his fiancée, Kristen, were married. The couple had originally planned the wedding for October 5, but were forced to reschedule due to the Cardinals' participation in the 2019 National League Division Series.^[39]

Edman is a Christian.^[40] Edman has said “Obviously, as a baseball player, your goal is to win the World Series. But I think for me, my goal is to be able to use the platform that I have to impact as many people as I can. It’s important for me as a Christian to be able to spread the word of God as much as I can.”^[41]

References

1. Lowe, Shauntel (June 4, 2013). "La Jolla Country Day's Edman Named All-Academic Team Captain | La Jolla, CA Patch". Patch.com. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
2. "NECBL Unveils 2014 Awards and Honors". NECBL. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
3. "Tommy Edman - Profile". Pointstreak.com. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
4. "Five Y-D Players Land All-Star Laurels". CCBL. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
5. "Y-D Red Sox win back-to-back titles, Mycock Trophy". CCBL. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
6. "FROM CARDINAL TO CARDINALS". Stanford University. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
7. "Tommy Edman Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
8. "Cardinals All-Star Weekend Recap – The Baby Bird Nest". Cardinalschirps.mlblogs.com. June 27, 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
9. "'Riders clip Cards, 6-5, in 11 innings". MiLB.com. June 30, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
10. Rice, Megan (September 15, 2018). "Memphis Redbirds claim back-to-back PCL titles for the first time". WREG.com. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
11. "Tommy Edman Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
12. "St. Louis Cardinals Prospect at Arizona Fall League". KMOX-AM. October 8, 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
13. "Seven of Top-15 Cardinals Prospects Featured on Redbirds Roster | Redbirds". Milb.com. April 4, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
14. Goold, Derrick (June 8, 2019). "Cardinals call up switch-hitting rookie Tommy Edman to replace Gyorko (sore back)". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
15. "Caratini helps rally Cubs past Cardinals 9-4". FOX2now.com. Associated Press. June 8, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
16. RotoWire Staff (June 21, 2019). "Cardinals' Tommy Edman: Clubs first major-league homer". CBSSports.com. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
17. [1] July 19, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
18. "Statcast Sprint Speed Leaderboard | baseballsavant.com". Baseballsavant.mlb.com. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
19. "Edman is the Cardinals' second baseman, but would move if he had to | St. Louis Cardinals | stltoday.com". February 26, 2021.
20. Silver, Zachary (February 3, 2021). "Rover no more, Edman inherits second base". MLB.com. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
21. "Salvador Perez, Tommy Edman are Players of the Week". MLB.com.
22. "When is the Dodgers Cardinals wild card game? Time, channel - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. October 5, 2021.
23. "Tommy Two Bags: Edman shows knack for finding scoring position as Cardinals extend streak".
24. "Five Cardinals win 2021 NL Gold Glove Awards". MLB.com.
25. "Rover no more, Edman inherits second base". MLB.com.
26. "Cardinals' Tommy Edman: Shifting to shortstop". May 19, 2022.
27. "Cardinals' Tommy Edman: May move to shortstop". May 10, 2022.
28. Murphy, Alex (June 11, 2022). "Cardinals' Tommy Edman Hits Walk-Off Two-Run Homer v. Reds". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
29. "Tommy Edman Stats, Fantasy & News". MLB.com.
30. "2023 MLB Arbitration Tracker". MLBTradeRumors. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
31. "Cardinals, Tommy Edman agree to 2-year deal, avoid arbitration". ESPN.com. Associated Press. January 22, 2024. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
32. "The Official Site of Major League Baseball". MLB.com.
33. "Baseball official to meet with MLB players of Korean descent to gauge WBC interest: sources". The Korea Times. September 22, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
34. Kwak, Donnie (July 12, 2019). "My Cousin Tommy Is a Major Leaguer". The Ringer. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
35. Gensterblum, James (July 14, 2016). "Tommy Edman latest in long line of standout athletes in family with Petoskey ties". Petosky News. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
36. "(Spring Training) (Yonhap Interview) Half-Korean Cardinal eager to build friendship with new S. Korean pitcher". Yonhap News Agency. February 13, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
37. "Front Office Directory". MLB.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
38. "Elise Edman - Volleyball". Davidson College Athletics. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
39. Miller, Corey (November 25, 2019). "Cardinals' Tommy Edman gets married after postseason baseball postponed original plans". KSDK. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
40. Kruse, Ethan. "Tommy Edman - Finding Strength". His Huddle. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
41. Horlacher, Bill (September 6, 2019). "Spikes' Alum Tommy Edman Finds a Perch with the Cardinals". Retrieved February 5, 2022.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Stanford Cardinal bio
• Tommy Edman on Twitter