Xavier Edwards, 2B, TAM

A consensus Top 100 prospect, just what can we expect from new Rays infielder Xavier Edwards?

• Born: August 9, 1999
• B/T: Both/Right
• 5’10”, 175-lbs
• Drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 1st round of the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft out of North Broward Prep HS (Coconut Creek, FL).

His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year and then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:

Wowza! That’s some contact being made! He came out of high school and immediately began walking more than he struck out. It’s not as if the pitchers respect his power, since he hardly has any, yet his batting eye is so good he will not reach for pitches out of the zone.
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His speed is excellent, and his OBP screams “leadoff hitter.”

He hit great against righties, and he hit just fine against lefties. The switch-hitting Edwards is ready for whatever you throw at him.

Now that’s a spray chart of beauty. So, so balanced.

His OPS average is .794, and believe me, it ain’t all SLG. This is a sign of just how good his OBP is.
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He did dip a bit in High-A last summer, but held on fairly well as he adjusted to the new level.

• Rotowire: #93 on their Top 400.
• BaseballHQ: #58 on their Top 100.
• Fangraphs: #75 on their Top 120.
• Fantasy Six Pack: #208 on their dynasty list.
• Prospects365: #61 on Ray Butler’s Top 200.
• Imaginary Brick Wall: #47 on the Top 487.
• Fantrax: #39 on the Top 250.

Time for AA. Will the BB% dip into worrisome territory? Will pitchers be able to strike him out more?

This will be the real test. If he can adjust to AA, he will be ready for the majors.
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The lack of power is real. His body frame tells us what to expect.

When you are in the Rays organization, you have lots of other minor league talent to compete with. That’s just about the only thing that could slow Edwards down in his march to the majors.

Otherwise, he is a leadoff hitter in the making, an on-base machine who steals bases successfully at an 82% clip, while spraying balls to all fields.
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If you like your prospects to be sluggers, look away. Everyone else, meet a future quality major leaguer.