Carl Edwards Jr.’s Return to Chicago From Triple-A Offers Encouraging Signs

Carl Edwards Jr. was optioned to Triple-A because he completely lost his command early in 2019. Rather than being discouraged, CJ worked his butt off in Iowa and put up an extremely encouraging 2.16 BB/9 in just under nine innings. That strong performance in the minors earned him a call back to Wrigley Field, where he made his first return performance against the Miami Marlins on Monday. Edwards recorded a scoreless inning with no walks Monday night all while showcasing a familiar release point.

Before Edwards Jr. was sent to Iowa this season, his four-seamer release point was unusually low by about 1.5 inches. But in his outing against Miami on Monday night, CJ’s release point was higher and back to his 2017-2018 release point range, as shown below.

It’s possible that Carl’s release point isn’t a significant factor in his command. In reality, I seriously doubt that his improved command is solely attributed to just raising his release point. It’s more likely that whatever other changes he’s made has translated to a slightly higher release point. Still, even though Carl looked different in a good way Monday night, we’ll need several more appearances before forming any strong opinions about why his command has — hopefully — been better.