Jonathan Benjamin Edwards (born January 8, 1988) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who is currently a free agent. Prior to his time in Japan, he played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Texas Rangers,

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

, and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

Career

Edwards attended

Keller High School Keller High School is a public high school located in the city of Keller, Texas and is served by the Keller Independent School District. The school educates students in the majority of the city of Keller, western Southlake, northwestern Colleyv ...

Keller, Texas Keller is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. According to the 2020 census, the city's population is 45,776, making Keller the 71st most populated city in Texas. The most recent population estimate, as of Ju ...

St. Louis Cardinals

The

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

selected Edwards in the 14th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He played in the Cardinals organization until 2010, without appearing in an MLB game.

Independent Baseball

He spent the 2011 season playing

independent league baseball Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

for the

San Angelo Colts The San Angelo Colts were a professional baseball team based in San Angelo, Texas, in the United States. The Colts were most recently a member of United League Baseball, an independent professional league which was not affiliated with Major Leagu ...

of the

United Baseball League United League Baseball was an independent baseball league that operated in Texas. The league operated from 2006 to 2009. The league then temporarily merged with the Northern League and the Golden Baseball League to form the North American League ...

and

Alpine Cowboys The Alpine Cowboys are a professional baseball team based in Alpine, Texas, in the Big Bend region of West Texas. The Cowboys are a franchise of the Pecos League, which is not affiliated with a Major League Baseball organization. They play their ...

of the

Pecos League Pecos may refer to: Places * Pecos River, rises near Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States * Pecos, Texas, a city in Reeves County, Texas, United States * Pecos County, Texas, named for the Pecos River ** Pecos Spring, a spring * Pecos, New Mexico, ...

. He would be the first player from the

to ever play in the MLB.

Texas Rangers

Jon Edwards Rangers pitcher in Arlington Sept 2014

Edwards signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers in 2012 and converted to a pitcher. Edwards was called up to the majors for the first time on August 15, 2014.

San Diego Padres

In August 2015, Edwards was traded from the Rangers to the

for

Will Venable William Dion Venable (born October 29, 1982) is an American professional baseball coach and former player. He is the associate manager of the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB as an outfielder for the San Diego Pad ...

. On December 20, 2016, Edwards signed a minor league contract with the Padres. He was released on March 28, 2017.

Cleveland Indians

On March 22, 2018, Edwards signed a minor league contract with the

. The Indians promoted Edwards to the major leagues on September 1. On September 1, 2019, Edwards was designated for assignment. After clearing waivers, Edwards was outrighted to the Triple-A

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, mercha ...

on September 3, 2019. Edwards elected free agency on November 4, 2019.

Hanshin Tigers

On December 21, 2019, Edwards signed with the

Hanshin Tigers The Hanshin Tigers (Japanese: 阪神タイガース ''Hanshin Taigāsu'') are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and is owned by Hanshin Electric Railwa ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Jon 1988 births Living people Akron RubberDucks players Alpine Cowboys players Arizona League Rangers players Baseball players from Chicago Batavia Muckdogs players Cleveland Indians players Columbus Clippers players El Paso Chihuahuas players Frisco RoughRiders players Johnson City Cardinals players Leones de Ponce players Major League Baseball pitchers Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Quad Cities River Bandits players Round Rock Express players San Angelo Colts players San Diego Padres players Spokane Indians players Texas Rangers players