Part of the reason that the St. Louis Cardinals were comfortable declining Kolten Wong’s option in the offseason is because they had Tommy Edman. Edman had bounced around the field when Wong was on the team, spending time at every position except first base and catcher. His ability to hit the ball and play defense at every position made the team comfortable that he could take over as the everyday second baseman. This has worked well so far in 2021. In fact, Edman has become almost a carbon copy of Kolten Wong this season.
To begin with, both players are excellent fielders.