GOODYEAR, Arizona – Where to begin telling the story of Jon Edwards, the most unlikely player to make the 2019 opening day roster for the Cleveland Indians?
In fact, Edwards seems likely to play a very important role in the Tribe’s 2019 bullpen.
A guy who didn’t throw a professional pitch in 2017 and was selling real estate.
A guy who overcame testicular cancer.
A guy who came back from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery.
A guy who has been cut by three different teams.
A guy who can sell your house, if you need a real estate agent.
A guy who ended up with the Indians thanks to a video sent to the front office by Cody Allen.
A guy who stands straight and tall, all 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds of him. At the age of 31, he looks you in the eye...smiles...and says being with the Tribe “is a God thing.”
Listening to his story, there certainly seem to be more than a few baseball miracles.
HOW IT BEGAN
I could start with once upon a time, he was an outfielder in the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system. He was a 14th round draft choice, the 436th selection in 2010.
He signed for a $110,000 bonus out of Keller High in Texas.
And after five years of never rising above the Class A minor-league level, he was cut. He played for the Batavia, N.Y., Muckdogs for four summers, probably long enough to run for mayor.
That’s right, he spent part of four years in the New York-Penn League. His final season, he batted .180. He was cut at the age of 22, a career .239 batting average next to his name.
And that should have been the end of the baseball story. He plays a sport where 90 percent of minor league players never reach the majors.
HOW IT ALMOST ENDED
“I wanted to keep playing,” said Edwards.
He signed with San Angelo in the North American League.
Never heard of the North American League? It was a mystery to me.
It’s independent pro baseball, not affiliated with any major league teams.
He was still an outfielder in 2011.
“We didn’t make much money,” he said. “But if you hit a home run, they passed a hat around the stands and you could get up to $100!”
What was the most he made on a homer?
“One guy made 800 bucks,” he said. “But if you hit a home run late at night in extra innings, they’d pass the hat and all you’d get were some dollar bills.”
San Angelo, Texas, was not much kinder to Edwards than Batavia.
In 23 games, he was batting .227 with 5 home runs.
Then came another Edwards, a man named Doc Edwards.
That’s right, the former Indians catcher and manager (1987-89). At this point, Doc Edwards was 75 years old and managing a galaxy away from the big leagues.
Doc Edwards noticed the outfielder had a good arm.
“He had me throw some pitches and I hit 95 mph on the radar gun,” said Edwards. “He said I had a chance to make it if I wanted to try pitching.”
Edwards had pitched only five games in high school. He was a power-hitting outfielder.
But at age 23, he was desperate. Doc Edwards sent him to Alpine of the Pecos League.
It’s where guys played for $50 a game. Alpine is on the edge of Big Bend National Park in Southwest Texas.
“I threw a couple of games for them, pulled my groin muscle and went home,” he said.
Was it over?
HOW IT BEGAN . . . AGAIN
Edwards had a friend named Luis Ortiz, who is now a hitting coach with the Texas Rangers.
In 2011, Ortiz was a minor league hitting coach for Texas. He also owned a baseball batting cage in Keller, Texas – the hometown of Edwards.
Edwards told Ortiz about his brief pitching career. Ortiz called the Rangers, and they sent a scout to watch him throw.
Once again, he lit up the radar gun at 95 mph – well above the big league average of 92 mph.
He suddenly had a contract with the Rangers to begin a minor league career as a pitcher.
At the age of 24.
The coaches had to teach him the basics of pitching. But within three years, he made it to the Rangers, pitching in Arlington late in the 2014 season. He allowed four runs in 8-1/3 innings and struck out nine.
HOW IT ALMOST ENDED . . . AGAIN
A few months after that dream 2014 season, Edwards wasn’t feeling well.
A doctor discovered he had testicular cancer.
“I found out on a Monday,” he said. “I had surgery on Thursday. The next day, I got a clean report – they had been worried about it spreading to my lymph nodes.”
Edwards talked about his father and his wife, Katelyn, helping him with support and prayer during the ordeal.
“They kept telling me not to forget God’s promises for me," he said.
Edwards was married in 2013. He and Katelyn were hoping to start a family.
“Men who have that type of cancer sometimes can’t have children,” he said. “A few months later, my wife was pregnant with our first child.”
Edwards called it “another God thing.”
Edwards opened the 2015 season in Class AAA. After saving 20 games with a 1.42 ERA, he was promoted to Texas. He had a flat tire driving to the park for his first day in the big leagues, but made it on time to pitch out of the bullpen that night.
A few weeks later, he was traded to San Diego, where he had a 3.38 ERA in 11 games.
Only seven months after testicular cancer surgery, he was in the big leagues and soon to be a father.
It seemed like another miracle.
HOW IT COULD HAVE ENDED
Heading into the 2016 season, Edwards thought he’d have a spot in the Padres bullpen.
But something was wrong.
His arm. His elbow.
At first, he couldn’t believe it. A bad arm? Now? After everything from being cut by the Cardinals to playing in the Pecos League and cancer?
A sore arm?
Really?
He tried to pitch through the pain. It didn’t work.
On June 2, 2016, he had elbow reconstruction surgery, commonly know as “Tommy John.” Recovery time is 14 to 24 months.
Nine months after the operation, Edwards was released by San Diego late in 2017 spring training.
“That (2017) season, I didn’t pitch,” he said. “I was still finishing my rehab. I wasn’t getting paid. We had our second son. My wife and I also got our real estates licenses."
Did he sell anything?
“Our first sale was our own house,” he said. “We sold a few other things.”
At this point, Edwards was 29 years old, old for baseball. He was a guy branded as having a bad arm. He also was giving hitting and pitching lessons to kids to make money.
“Most days, I rehabbed my arm in the morning,” he said. “I went to the baseball facility and gave lessons in the afternoon. In the evening, I worked on real estate.”
He also watched big league games on TV, remembering when he faced a certain hitter.
“It would have been easy to give up,” he said. “I had been in this spot before in my career. I sat down and prayed a few times.”
He continually had the feeling “I’m not done playing. People haven’t seen the best of me yet. There’s still time.”
He worked out at a place in Arlington where former Tribe pitcher Cody Allen also trained. They became friends.
“Cody sent some video of me to the Indians,” said Edwards. “I didn’t even ask him to do it.”
Allen told him, “You might get a phone call from Cleveland.”
He did.
“When we get a tape from someone we trust like Cody, we really check it out,” said Tribe Assistant General Manager Carter Hawkins.
The Indians immediately dug up all their scouting reports. They knew about the arm surgery.
A Tribe scout named Chris Gale had clocked Edwards at 98 mph and gave him a glowing report -- that was right before the pitcher was injured.
“We receive a lot of calls from players who had been let go by other organizations,” said Hawkins. “But we knew if Jon was healthy, he was worth a look."
And he looked very good when the Indians brought him to minor league camp in 2018.
They signed him to a contract on March 22.
Yes, another “God thing.”
Jon Edwards struck out the side against the Chicago White in the 8th inning at Progressive Field on September 20, 2018. He was called up on Sept. 1, 2018, and made an immediate impression on the Indians. (Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer) Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer
HOW IT BEGAN . . . ONE MORE TIME
“The Indians don’t just preach culture, they have it,” said Edwards.
He talked about them giving him time to finish rehabilitating his arm. He didn’t pitch his first minor league game until May 28, nine weeks after he was signed.
Edwards spent a month at Class AA Akron. Then he was moved up to Class AAA Columbus.
He was promoted to Cleveland on Sept. 1, 2018. When he threw a scoreless inning against Tampa Bay, it was his first Major League appearance in three years.
“I noticed him in September,” Tribe manager Terry Francona said. “I knew there was a chance he could help us.”
He had a 3.12 ERA in 8-1/3 innings. Right-handers were 3-for-19 against him.
Then came a sensational spring training: 9-2/3 scoreless innings, 11 strikeouts.
He seemed very calm all spring.
“A lot of times in my career, I had the stuff and the talent physically to make it,” he said. “But it was the mental part.”
Edwards said he recommitted himself to his Christian faith in his early 20s. His wife is also a believer. They stayed together, prayed through the cancer, the arm surgery, the times he was cut.
“Without baseball, I had a period where I didn’t know who was,” he said. “I cried out to God.”
He learned he was more than a baseball player. He was a father, a husband, a man of faith. But he believed God was leading him to keep chasing his baseball dreams.
“I’ve been through a lot," he said. "I once got sent down (to the minors) by Texas (in 2015) in the middle of an exhibition game. Five days later, I got called back up when someone got hurt.”
He was sure he was on the way to major breakthrough with San Diego late in the 2015 season, but then injured his elbow in the spring of 2016.
Now, at age 31, he’s back in the big leagues – and the only player ever to make the majors from the Pecos League.
“I’m healthy, my arm is really strong,” he said. “What I’ve learned is not to give up.”
And he’s lived those words.