By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
You see the resume and spot the words “Stanford” and “math and computational science major” and instantly think of the word Brainiac.
Then you read the scouting reports that he’s a prospect infielder who does a lot of things well and, given he plays in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, it’s easy to envision him in the same vein as Daniel Descalso or Greg Garcia – a productive utilityman on a big-league roster.
However, his current manager describes Tommy Edman another way.
“He’s a miniature-Ben Zobrist,” Springfield Cardinals skipper Johnny Rodriguez was saying the other day.
More on that in a minute, but you get the picture. Here Edman is as one to watch in Double-A Springfield, having risen from a high school nobody – pretty much his description – to a reliable player at brains-and-bats Stanford University who transformed himself into a prospect.
And not just any prospect.
The dude is a switch-hitter who is handling three infield positions – a role that you might scoff at because, for fringe fans, that’s a just throw-away guy. Here, it is not. Remember, Garcia was a bench player at the start of 2012 in Springfield, won the starting shortstop job by midseason and, well, he succeeded Descalso as St. Louis’ utilityman the past three seasons.
Kinda interesting, huh? It is when you consider Edman had five multi-hit games in the first six days of the season, is batting .317 after the season’s first month and is ranked St. Louis’ Top 30 prospects of two national publications – Baseball America and MLB.com.
“My old host family texted me and said, ‘Hey, you are in the Top 30.’ That’s how I found out about it,” Edman said, noting that, “Those are outside rankings. You can’t read into those too much. If you start thinking about that too much, you’ll get into your own head.’”
The Zobrist comp
Well, Edman certainly is in his manager’s head – in a good way. Rodriguez, a baseball lifer, managed Edman two years ago in State College, Pa., which won the short-season New York-Penn League pennant that summer. Edman was a sixth-round draft pick just two months earlier.
“When I first met him, I said, ‘You’re a miniature Zobrist,” Rodriguez said, referring to a big-league infielder now in his 11th season.
Of course, Rodriguez isn’t projecting Edman to follow Zobrist’s career to a T. That would be a tall challenge. Zobrist, you see, is a three-time All-Star infielder who helped the 2015 Kansas City Royals and 2016 Chicago Cubs win World Series – and earned the 2016 World Series MVP.
However, the subtleties are hard to ignore, save for the fact Edman is 5-10 and Zobrist 6-3.
“On base, he can run. And when Zobrist was young, he could run. He doesn’t have Zobrist’s power, but he reminds me of the way Zobrist barrels the ball from both sides of the plate, works the count and is a tough out,” Rodriguez said.
So, why believe?
Edman comes from good stock, and a journey that has put him in position to have success. His dad, John, is a longtime high school baseball at La Jolla Country Day School in San Diego. When Tommy was 10, a hitting cage was constructed in the backyard.
His dad also taught math, which is in Edman’s DNA, too.
See where this is going?
It’s how a guy quietly works away in talent-rich southern California and later shows up at one of the most prestigious universities in the country, Stanford, and makes a name for himself.
This spring, the Cardinals invited him to big-league camp in a sign that he’s piqued the interest of many in the organization.
“I wasn’t the highest-recruited guy out of high school, or a draft guy out of high school. I had to build my resume for major-league teams to look at you,” Edman said, and later added this: “At Stanford, I went into my freshman year not expecting to play that much right away. … But the summer after that, I was more comfortable. It was just getting that confidence and, not only belonged, but that I could be one of the best players.”
That’s his mission now in the Cardinals farm system. Because he got in 239 at-bats last year in Double-A but hit a speedbump, he’s applying what he learned.
What’s impressive is that Edman has continued to hit despite playing second, shortstop and third base.
Rodriguez says he’s got soft hands and catches just about everything. However, he acknowledged Edman’s range toward the first-base bag while a second baseman – and his quick reactions at third – will determine whether Edman becomes big-league ready.
In other words, he can become another one of the thousands of roster casualties on a Double-A roster or, perhaps, be the next Descalso or Garcia. Or …maaaybee a Zobrist.
Fortunately, he’s got the want-to.
“The ultimate goal is to make it to the big leagues and help them win championships,” Edman said. “It’s obviously great to be in Springfield, but it’s not the final goal.”
