Xavier Edwards Is Batting .347 and the Giants Have No Answer for Him Saturday

Xavier Edwards is on an absolute tear right now, and the San Francisco Giants are about to get another dose of it. The Miami Marlins second baseman ripped three hits in Friday's 9-4 win over the Giants, and now he's coming back for more in the series finale Saturday afternoon. This guy is not messing around early in the season.

Edwards is putting up numbers that should scare every pitcher he faces. He's sitting at a .347 batting average, which is the second-best mark in the entire majors. That's not a fluke either. In his 26 games so far, Edwards has recorded multiple hits in 11 of them. On Friday night alone, he went 3-for-5 with a double, two singles and a walk. His third multi-hit game of the season ties the bow on what's already a serious All-Star caliber start to the year.

Hot Hand, Any Lineup Spot

What's wild about Edwards' success is the Marlins keep moving him around the order. He's batted second, fourth, and seventh depending on the game. Friday he was in the cleanup spot. Most guys would get confused bouncing around like that, but not Edwards.

"With X's skill set, it makes it easy for me. I feel like I can put him anywhere with the combination of where other guys are," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "He's a really good hitter, and as he's continuing to get time in the major leagues, he's getting better. He's evolving."

The 26-year-old has never faced Robbie Ray, who will take the mound for the Giants on Saturday. Ray comes in at 2-3 with a 2.86 ERA. Against the Marlins specifically, the 34-year-old vet is 4-5 with a 2.29 ERA across 11 starts and 12 appearances. Still, Ray has been snake-bitten by his offense this season. He's given up two runs in a 3-0 loss to New York, both runs in a 2-1 setback at Cincinnati, and all three runs in a 3-0 loss at Washington in his latest outing. That run support drought is brutal.

Arraez Heating Up Too

The Giants have their own hot second baseman to worry about. Luis Arraez went 3-for-5 on Friday and is now hitting .320 on the season. That's a massive jump from his .211 average through his first five games as a Giant. Since then, he's been locked in at .346.

"He's found who he is," Giants manager Tony Vitello said. "He had some hard-contact outs early in the year. Maybe he didn't have as much to show for it as maybe he deserved. He's caught his rhythm."

Arraez and the Marlins' Eury Perez have never faced off in a game. Perez, the 23-year-old righty, is 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA. Miami has won four times in its last five starts by Perez, including his best outing of the year last Sunday when he held Milwaukee to just one unearned run over six innings in a 5-3 victory. The only previous matchup between Arraez and Perez came last July when Arraez was with San Diego, and Perez got him with two groundouts while allowing a single.

Miami just notched its sixth straight win in San Francisco dating back to August 2024. They'll look to keep that streak rolling Saturday.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.