Carl Edwards

Carl Fleming Edwards Jr.
(C.J.; The String Bean Slinger)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 155-170 lb.
• High School Mid-Carolina High School
• Debut September 7, 2015

• Born September 3, 1991 in Newberry, SC USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Carl Edwards, usually called Carl Edwards Jr., was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 48th round of the 2011 amateur draft. The scout was Chris Kemp. A rail-thin righthander, he weighed only 155 lbs. on a 6'2" frame when he was drafted out of a high school in South Carolina. He began his professional career in 2012 and had an excellent first season, putting up a sparkling 1.48 ERA in 14 games as a starter between the AZL Rangers (3-0, 0.00 in 4 games) and Spokane Indians (2-3, 2.11). He pitched 67 innings, allowed only 32 hits and 25 walks, and struck out 85. His .141 opponent average led all minor league pitchers from June 20th to the end of the season. He tied Shane Broyles for 9th in the Northwest League with 60 whiffs. Baseball America named him as the #8 prospect in both the NWL (between Jeimer Candelario and Gioskar Amaya) and the Arizona League (between Stryker Trahan and Daniel Robertson).

In 2013, he was assigned to the Hickory Crawdads of the South Atlantic League where he continued to dominate opposing batters to the tune of a 1.83 ERA in 18 starts. He was 8-2 and had struck out 122 batters in 93 1/3 innings when he was traded to the Chicago Cubs on July 22nd. He joined Mike Olt and Justin Grimm in heading north as the Rangers obtained veteran pitcher Matt Garza in return. He made his debut with the Cubs at the tail end of the 2015 season.

At the end of spring training in 2019, Edwards was informed by Major League Baseball that his delivery to the plate was an illegal one, because it featured a toe tap that was considered unacceptable. Edwards had to make a change to his mechanics and partly as a result had a very rough start as in his first 4 appearances, he gave up 6 runs in 1 2/3 innings, having failed to retire anyone in two of the four outings. Sporting an ERA of 32.40, he was sent down to the minors to work things outs and only returned on May 6th. He had obviously figured things out in the meantime, as he allowed just 1 run in 4 1/3 innings in his first 5 games back, although he was still some ways from bringing his ERA back down to respectable territory.

Notable Achievements

• Won one World Series with the Chicago Cubs in 2016

Sources

• 2013 Rangers Media Guide
• 2013 Baseball Almanac

Related Sites

• Carl Edwards on mlb.com
• BR Minors page