'He's a winning baseball player': Edwards impresses Marlins with walk-off knock

MIAMI -- A bucket of ice water.

When Xavier Edwards looks back on his first career walk-off hit, he will remember Wednesday night’s refreshingly cold shower in celebration of his heroics.

Edwards’ game-winning 10th-inning single off Nationals right-hander Derek Law in the Marlins’ 4-3 walk-off victory -- their MLB-high-tying 10th of the season -- at loanDepot park gave Miami its first win in nine matchups against Washington this season.

After Nick Fortes moved the automatic runner to third with a groundout to second to lead off the bottom of the 10th, Edwards lined a two-strike slider over shortstop CJ Abrams with the infield drawn in.

“I did think maybe that they would walk me, but also I'm glad that they pitched [to] me,” Edwards said. “The goal is just to get the run in any way that I could, so I'm glad that I did.”

Edwards, who returned on Tuesday after missing nine games with mild back extensor soreness, showed some rust coming off the injured list by going hitless with four strikeouts in his first eight at-bats. He admitted that although he hit off a machine during the club’s road trip, his timing and tracking were off.

But with Miami trailing 3-2 in the eighth, Edwards began a two-out rally with a sharp single to right. Connor Norby and Jake Burger followed with hits of their own to tie the game at 3.

“Obviously, we saw bits and pieces last year in the playoff run,” Burger said. “He's a professional and goes about it the right way. It was only a matter of time, and [it’s] really unfortunate that he had to start the season the way he did on the IL because the sky's the limit for him.

“But coming up here, taking really good at-bats, really good zone awareness -- it's what you want in a leadoff guy is a guy that's going to take long at-bats, have good bat-to-ball skills, and then also stealing bags to get in scoring position for the middle of the order. He's a great teammate, and I'm really happy for him.”

Since debuting on June 7 after a long recovery from a left foot infection, here are Edwards’ rankings among players with at least 200 plate appearances:

• Fourth in on-base percentage (.417)
• Fourth in batting average (.341)
• Tied for fifth in stolen bases (22)
• Tied for ninth in stolen-base percentage, minimum 10 steals (.917)

These are all part of Edwards’ brand of baseball, which he hopes proves to be invaluable to the Marlins as they begin planning for 2025.

“Stick to who I am, put my best foot forward every day, and after that, I can be happy with whatever happens,” Edwards said. “Setting the table, getting on base, scoring runs, stealing bases, moving the guy over, all the little things. And then on defense, just make the routine play. That's all we really control, and the rest is just athleticism.”

The 25-year-old Edwards is showing himself to be a key piece for the organization moving forward. When Miami activated him from the IL on Tuesday, manager Skip Schumaker said he would run Edwards out there on a daily basis with the season winding down and the club wanting to see if he can remain at shortstop.

Entering Wednesday, advanced metrics didn’t favor Edwards as much as standard fielding stats. Among Major League shortstops with at least 400 innings at the position, he had -4 Defensive Runs Saved (tied for sixth-worst) and -6 Outs Above Average (tied for third-worst). But Edwards’ .983 fielding percentage tied him for ninth-best with the Rangers’ Corey Seager and the D-backs’ Kevin Newman.

“As far as the future of the organization, I think it shows that he's an everyday player for sure,” Schumaker said. “Whether that's at short or second or wherever the front office decides, X is going to kind of make it hard for them to move him off of short the way he's playing there.

“I think he's just a gamer. He's a good baseball player. No matter where you put him, he's going to grind out at-bats. He's not an easy at-bat to face, and he's just a winning baseball player. And that's honestly the best compliment a manager or coach can give a player. He's a winning baseball player, and X is that.”