BISCUITS BANTER: Edwards moving up the charts for Biscuits
Infielder Xavier Edwards continues to impress minor league scouts in his first season with the Biscuits. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
He’s one of the Tampa Bay Rays’ top prospects, but Xavier Edwards is careful to keep life in perspective.
Once considered one of the game’s best shortstops, he has settled into his role as a second baseman despite those who question his lack of size or lack of power.
“I’m not trying to do anything crazy, just stick to who I am as a player,” Edwards said. “It’s baseball regardless of if it’s low A, Rookie ball, Double A, Triple A. It’s all still baseball, the game we’ve been playing for a long time. I just try to keep it at that.”
He is listed by MLB as the Rays’ fourth best prospect, trailing shortstop Wander Franco, former Biscuit and current Durham second baseman Vidal Brujan and former Biscuit and current Durham Bull pitcher Brendan McKay.
He is listed as the third-best second baseman behind Nick Gonzales, who is in the Pirates’ minor league organization, and Brujan.
It may be difficult moving up the ladder to Major League Baseball while Brujan is playing for the same organization in Triple-A.
“Brujan’s a great player,” Edwards said. “I got to play with him at the alternate site last year. He’s a really talented guy and off to a good start this year in Triple-A. The goal for everybody is to make it to the Major Leagues and play as long as possible and that’s the goal for me still, regardless of who’s in front of me or who’s rated higher than me. I can’t focus on any of that stuff. I just go out and play my game and hopefully it gets me where I want to go.”
Edwards is somewhat small in stature (the roster lists his favorably at 5-foot-10) and has just one professional home run in his career, but any doubts are soon erased after watching him spray the ball to all fields from both sides of the plate.
“That’s what a big league hitter looks like,” Montgomery manager Morgan Ensberg said. “He understands the strike zone. He has an ability and understanding of the how to approach and his swing. He’s going to do very well as a big-league hitter.”
It’s all about being comfortable at the plate and Edwards certainly had that feeling as a highly regarded shortstop at North Broward Prep School in south Florida. He had committed to Vanderbilt and was all set to lead the Commodores to NCAA championships when the Padres drafted him with the 38th overall pick in the 2018 draft.
A little over a year later, he was traded to the Rays and had to work at establishing himself in a new organization.
“It was definitely interesting,” Edwards said. “It’s almost like being the new kid at school again. You walk into a clubhouse, a new organization, and you don’t know too many faces. You’re trying to get your feet under you, trying to play baseball the best you can, but there are a lot of things that factor into that and being comfortable is one of them.
“That was a big part of it, trying to get comfortable with this organization.”
He went through spring training with the Rays, but three months after the trade, COVID-19 suspended baseball operations and canceled the minor league season.
“Last year was definitely an interesting year with COVID, the alternate (training) site, being home for so long during a part of the year that I can’t even remember the last time I was home,” Edwards said. “It’s probably been middle school. It was definitely an interesting year, on top of it being with a new organization.”
He returned to spring training a year later, eyeing a hopeful promotion to Double-A, but just as spring training was wrapping up, an injury cost him a month of the 2021 season.
“I strained my oblique the second to last day of spring training,” Edwards explained. “It’s a long season. I definitely would have loved to have gotten out here on opening night but there’s still a lot of baseball left. I missed a little time but not too much.”
He was activated on June 8 and promptly moved into a starting role as the Biscuits’ second baseman. He reached base in 31 of the 34 games he played in (ending with the Biscuits’ last home stand), demonstrating an ability to get on base either with a hit or a walk. He had just two hits in his first three games, but soon was batting over .300, reaching a peak of .359 during the Biscuits’ last home stand that included 11 wins in 13 games.
“He’s been fun to watch,” said Miles Mastrobuoni, who shared the position with Edwards before moving up to Durham in mid-July. “He’s got so much talent and can really pick it at second (base). I’ve gotten to know him better since he got here and he really has a knack for picking things up.”
Edwards was one of 24 players from Double-A -- and one of only six from the former Southern League -- to participate in the MLB All-Star Futures Game as part of MLB All-Star week. He started at second base and went 0 for 1 at the plate before he was replaced in the fifth inning.
While the Rays’ organization loves to develop versatile players, Edwards seems as if he’s more comfortable at second base. And when he’s comfortable, he’s a dangerous weapon.
He’s eager to move up and can’t wait for a shot at Major League Baseball, but Edwards also has a knack for putting things in perspective. He had never played Double-A baseball before this season, so he wants to develop confidence at the plate through a sense of familiarity and comfort.
“I love this staff, I love this team, I love the guys,” he said. “They’re a real welcoming group. I got to play with a bunch of them during the spring so they’re not new faces any more.”
The Biscuits continue their seven-game homestand this evening with a doubleheader against Tennessee (Cubs).