Could Carl Edwards Jr. be a Marlins free agent target?

After two solid seasons to revive his career with the Washington Nationals, former 2016 World Series champion Carl Edwards Jr. finds himself as a free agent who can help out a lot of bullpens.

Last season, Edwards posted a 3.69 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 6.82 K/9 and a 4.83 BB/9 through 31 ⅔ innings pitched. Despite the lack of innings, Edwards had a fWAR of 0.4, the highest it has been since 2018.

In 2022, Edwards posted a 2.76 ERA, 4.24 FIP, 8.13 K/9 and a 3.63 BB/9 in a bigger sample of 62 innings pitched.

Although the righty's main pitch is the fastball, his changeup and curveball have been nice pitches as well. Both secondary pitches produced a whiff% of over 30% this past season. The only home run Edwards allowed came off a fastball.

The 32-year-old's fastball still sits at 93.6 mph. It plays even faster than that because of the great extension he gets off the mound (80th percentile among MLB pitchers).

Edwards made his final major league appearance with the Nats on June 19. He was placed on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation and was later diagnosed with a stress fracture. It does not seem as though the injury will hold him back entering 2024.

Having spent most of his career in the National League, Edwards is familiar with LoanDepot Park and had success there in nine relief outings as a Marlins opponent (1.80 ERA, 10.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 10 K).

The risk with Edwards is he has struggled with a high walk rate for the majority of his career. His 12.0 BB% in 2023 was close to his career average of 12.5 BB%. Also, he's coming off a season where left-handed batters had his number (.350/.443/.483/.926 slash line).

In 2023, Edwards earned $2.25M. Expect him to be seeking something similar next season. That makes him a low-cost option who could be on Miami's radar in the search for impactful right-handed relief pitching.