TinCaps' Edwards belts first career homer

The first pitch of Xavier Edwards' third at-bat Thursday sailed so far inside that he had to lunge out of the way. He hovered his bat over the plate for the next one. Foul. A breaking ball hit the dirt. What came next was unexpected not only because of Edwards' previous attempts to bunt, but also because it had never happened in any of his 267 professional at-bats up to that point.
San Diego's No. 8 prospect homered to right field and his 3-for-4 night helped propel Class A Fort Wayne to a 5-2 win over South Bend at Parkview Field.

"It definitely feels great," Edwards said of his first big fly. "I mean, I wasn't really thinking about it too much beforehand. But it's definitely good to get that one on the board and get it out of the way."

The 19-year-old scored in the first inning after chopping a leadoff single up the middle of the infield against Derek Casey. He flied out to left in the second, then took the right-hander deep in the fourth. In his last at-bat, Edwards singled to center in the sixth, scoring on a single by No. 17 Padres prospect Tucupita Marcano after advancing to second on lefty Eugenio Palma's misfired pickoff attempt.
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The Padres lured the Mineola, New York, native away from a Vanderbilt commitment last summer by drafting him 38th and signing him for $2.6 million. And while the Commodores won the College World Series on Wednesday night, MLB.com's No. 89 overall prospect has shown the tools to live up to his billing.
Edwards began his career in the Rookie-level Arizona League, where he posted a .384 average and a .937 OPS. That stint lasted all of 21 games before he earned a promotion to Class A Short Season Tri-City. The speedster was still a tough out for the Dust Devils, batting .314 with a .799 OPS, and across both levels swiped 22 bags in 23 attempts.
His first full season has been much of the same. Edwards' three hits marked the ninth time in 68 games he racked up at least that many knocks. He's hitting .331 in 269 at-bats with the TinCaps. His 18 stolen bases stand tied for third in the Midwest League. He entered the game with a strikeout rate of 11.4 percent that was only marginally higher than his walk rate 9.1 percent. And despite his 5-foot-10 frame, the shortstop has the footwork and arm to stick on the left side of the infield, according to MLB Pipeline.
Yet there is still work to be done. Edwards -- slugging .394 this season -- will change games more often with his 70-grade speed than his 40-grade power, but spent the offseason trying to improve his body to get the most out of both.
"Get better every day," he said. "I want to get better at every aspect -- hitting, hitting for power, average, defensively, stealing bases."

Blake Hunt, San Diego's No. 27 prospect, plated Edwards in the opening inning and finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Marcano logged three hits.
Tyler Durna hit a two-run homer off Jose Quezada in the sixth, but South Bend was otherwise stifled by TinCaps pitchers.
Sixth-ranked Ryan Weathers did not allow a run on two hits while striking out four over four two-hit frames for Fort Wayne. Carlos Belen earned his sixth hold with a scoreless frame, Cody Tyler (2-1) claimed the win after a hitless eighth and Henry Henry saved his sixth game after giving up one hit in the ninth.
Casey (4-5) was tagged for three earned runs on seven hits. The right-hander struck out two and walked one.