Biography
Thomas Hyunsu Edman (born May 9, 1995) is an American professional baseball infielder and outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Amateur career
Edman graduated from La Jolla Country Day School in San Diego, California in 2013, where he was an All-Academic Team selection. He attended Stanford University, where he played college baseball for the Stanford Cardinal. 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, was named starting second baseman for the East Division All-Star team, and helped lead the Red Sox to the league championship. As a junior at Stanford 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. 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 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.Edman began the 2018 season with Springfield, where he was named a Texas League All-Star. During the season, he reached base in 32 straight games, breaking Springfield's all-time record. 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. 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. After the season, the Cardinals assigned Edman to the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League (AFL).
St. Louis Cardinals (2019–present)
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. On June 8, his contract was selected and he was called up to the major leagues for the first time. He made his debut that night as a pinch hitter versus the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. He hit his first career home run on June 20 against the Marlins. On July 18, he hit his first career grand slam off of Robert Stephenson of the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.Over 92 regular season games with St. Louis, Edman slashed .304/.350/.850 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.
Personal life
Edman is the son of John Edman, Jr. and Maureen Kwak. His father John played four years of college baseball at Williams College in Massachusetts, and is a teacher and varsity baseball coach at La Jolla Country Day School, Edman's alma mater. His older brother, John, works in Baseball R&D (Research and Development) for the Minnesota Twins. His younger sister, Elise, plays volleyball at Davidson College. On November 23, 2019, Edman and his fiancé, 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.