Thomas Hyunsu Edman. My Korean name is Kwak Hyun-soo.
He is a player who is active as a major league infielder for St. Louis.
It is also the first player to wear a Korean national team uniform as a ‘Korean’ nationality player, not a Korean nationality player, ahead of the World Baseball Classic and WBC held in March.
The reason Edmund is able to compete in the WBC is because of WBC rules that allow him to choose one nationality among the birthplaces of his parents and grandparents.
The WBC’s rules are very lenient on nationality selection, and if this rule is followed, Lee Jung-hoo, who was born in Nagoya, Japan, has the right to play for the Japanese national team.
It can be said that it is a good thing that Edmund, who was a Major League Gold Glove graduate, joined the Korean national team.
To find out more about Edmon, he was born in 1995, is 27 years old, and his nationality is the United States.
He was born to an American father and a Korean mother, Kwak Kyung-ah, and is known to have started playing baseball under the influence of his father, who was a baseball coach.
Edmund’s middle name includes the familiar word ‘hyeonsu’.
It is said that his mother, who immigrated to the United States when he was young, gave him his middle name, Thomas Hyunsu Edman, to remind him not to forget his Korean identity.
By the way, many of Edmund’s relatives still live in Korea.
An unusual resume is that he majored in computer science at Stanford University in the United States.
At Stanford, a world-renowned university, he received an amazing grade point average of over 3.8 until his junior year, which is known as the highest grade point average for students belonging to the Stanford baseball team over the past 40 years.
Edmon, who took the starting shortstop position in his junior year of college, was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 6th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft, with the 196th overall pick, and began his professional career.
In the second half of the 2018 season, he was called up to Triple A and began to stand out, and in June 2019, after 3 seasons as a pro, he will step on the big league stage for the first time in his life.
His Triple-A performance (2019 season) before coming to the majors was a .305 batting average, 7 homers, 29 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.869.
Before explaining Edmon’s detailed abilities, I can say the following.
‘① A two-handed hitter who can handle multi-position ② Excellent defensive power ③ Quick feet ④ Sometimes able to hit a home run out of nowhere ⑤ An infielder from Gold Glove’
The 2022 season has a batting average of 0.265, 13 homers, 57 RBIs and 32 stolen bases.
His main position is second baseman, but he is evaluated as a player who can see all positions, including shortstop and outfielder, except for first baseman.
In particular, he was awarded the Gold Glove (NL second baseman) in the 2021 season, as evidenced by his excellent performance in defense.
In the 2022 season, I was nominated for Gold Glove, but unfortunately, the award was not released for 2 years in a row.
The defense is also a defense, but the situation judgment and quick feet are on the side, so the stealing ability is complied with.
His record of 30 or more stolen bases each year in his last two seasons proves it.
In addition, he has a lot of home runs compared to his batting average, but he has enough power to record double-digit home runs in 3 out of 4 seasons in the major leagues.
One of Edmon’s strengths is that he is a switch hitter who can stand at bat in any direction, regardless of whether he is left or right.
Why does such a popular major league star want to join our Korean national team?
A look at past interviews reveals Edman’s extraordinary affection for Korea. 스포츠토토
Edman said in a press interview that the whole family gets together and enjoys a Korean meal on Thanksgiving or Christmas.
His mother’s cooking skills are excellent. Since childhood, he has often encountered Korean food such as galbi, bulgogi, and japchae, and said that he also really likes kimchi.
With the addition of Edmund, the Korean national team has the best infield center line among participating countries in the WBC.
This is because there is another Gold Glove candidate, shortstop Ha Sung-kim.
It is a part that makes my heart magnificent to see the keystone combination play of Edmon and Ha-seong Kim in the major league Gold Glove class in our national team game.
Looking forward to the golden infielders’ performances in the WBC in March.
If you are curious about more stories of baseball players, search for ‘baseball character dictionary’ on YouTube.