STANFORD, Calif. - Junior shortstop Tommy Edman was selected in the sixth round by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 196th overall pick in the MLB Draft on Friday.
"I'm extremely honored to be drafted by an organization as successful as the St. Louis Cardinals," Edman said shortly after his selection. "I want to give a huge thank you to all of my friends and family for all their support throughout the process as well as all the opportunities Stanford has provided. I can't wait to get out and start playing."
Huge honor to be drafted by the @Cardinals! So thankful for my friends and family for all the support! #GoCards pic.twitter.com/mMv9YwuhZY
— Tommy Edman (@TommyEdman11) June 11, 2016
Edman, who earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors as well as Academic All-America accolades in 2016, played in the last 143 consecutive games for the Cardinal, and started the last 140 in a row.
As a junior, the San Diego, Calif., native led the Cardinal in runs (35), hits (61), triples (4), multi-hit games (18) and stolen bases (8), and was second in average (.286), total bases (79) and walks (25). Edman was also named the Pac-12's All-Defensive team shortstop with a .955 fielding percentage, as he led Stanford to its best defensive season in school history -- the Cardinal finished tied for first in the nation with a fielding percentage of .983, and committed the fewest errors in program history (35).
In three years at Stanford, Edman hit .281 in 168 games, and collected 177 hits, including 31 doubles, five triples and four home runs -- most notably, his walk-off round-tripper in the Bloomington Regional elimination game in 2014. He also tallied 71 RBI, 15 stolen bases and a fielding percentage of .969.
A computer science major, Edman maintained a 3.84 GPA at Stanford. In addition to his All-America honor, he was a two-time Academic All-District selection and 2015 Academic All-Pac-12 honoree.
Edman was the third Stanford player selected as Cal Quantrill went to the San Diego Padres with the eighth overall pick, and Chris Viall went to the New York Mets just six slots ahead of Edman.