Surpassing legends like Miguel Cabrera and Christian Yelich, the switch-hitting second baseman joins elite company as one of only two Marlins to maintain a .300 average through 300 games.
As Xavier Edwards reaches 300 games played with the Miami Marlins, he has quietly etched his name alongside some of the franchise's most accomplished players.
When Xavier Edwards took the field Monday night in a 7-3 win over the Washington Nationals, it marked his 300th career game with the Marlins. With the milestone, Edwards has become one of the most productive players in franchise history.
The 26-year-old switch-hitting second baseman entered the game batting .301 through 299 games. His one hit and one walk were enough to make him just the second player in franchise history to hit .300 or better through his first 300 games.
Edwards' 349 total hits in his first 300 games are the second-most in franchise history, trailing only Edgar Renteria. It also puts him ahead of franchise legends Miguel Cabrera and Christian Yelich, who are tied with 331.
Edwards was born in Mineola, New York, before his family moved to South Florida to support his sister's tennis development. Early on, Edwards played both baseball and tennis, but by the time he was eight, his focus had already started to shift toward baseball.
That decision paid off, as Edwards earned a scholarship to play at Vanderbilt University, an elite SEC baseball program. Unfortunately for the Commodores, Edwards never made it to campus after being selected 38th overall in the 2018 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres. The Padres signed the high school prospect for $2.6 million.
After signing with the Padres, Edwards rose through the minor leagues but was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays after the 2019 season. The cancellation of the 2020 minor league season because of COVID delayed his development, but he eventually reached Triple-A with Durham before another trade sent him to Miami in November 2022.
Edwards started the 2023 season with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, then received the call every kid who picks up a baseball dreams of on May 2: finding out he was being promoted to the major leagues. Edwards made multiple trips between Miami and Triple-A Jacksonville during the 2023 season and the start of 2024.
Miami recalled him on July 2, 2024, after that he would only play in two more minor league games, establishing himself as a regular in the Marlins lineup. As he told Tyler Boronski in April, the Marlins changed dramatically from “a bit of an older team in 23,” to “one of the younger teams in the league.”
“We made the playoffs that year and we got a good team this year,” Edwards said. “It’s been a lot of turnover but it’s a great group that we have here. It’s been a treat to come to the field with these guys and to suit up with them and spend time in the clubhouse. We got a great group.”
While it took a little longer than Edwards may have liked, he is now developing into one of the best second basemen in the game. This season, Edwards is playing some of the best baseball of his career, sporting a .311 batting average, an .873 OPS, along with six home runs, 20 RBI, and nine stolen bases.
Edwards attributes his success from the left side of the plate to the toe tap he intentionally uses to "feel my back and hips are in a natural position."
“As a switch-hitter, it's so easy to try to mimic your left-handed swing or your right-handed swing,” Edwards said on MLB Central last week.
The biggest surprise this season, however, has been Edwards' improvement as a right-handed hitter. Edwards said that success comes from, "Something my hitting coach said to me is that I need to treat both sides like two different people, two different hitters."
That approach is paying off, as he has become much more comfortable from the right side of the plate. Against left-handed pitching this season batting from the right side, Edwards is hitting .340 with four home runs in 56 plate appearances.
Edwards is using the 2026 season to prove that the potential scouts saw years ago was no illusion, but rather exactly who he is as a player.
ESPN's Bradford Doolittle recently called Edwards "an outstanding under-the-radar producer in the National League."
Now, with June underway, the question is: Can Edwards continue to produce at that level and turn it into another milestone by earning his first MLB All-Star selection of his career?
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