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“He worked out for us at shortstop and took ground balls and fly balls, and he took batting practice with Group Four, and he just wowed us,” said Butterfield. “He worked unbelievably hard, and was just soaked by the end of batting practice.

“[Second baseman] Kelly Johnson took balls alongside him, and said he was amazing. He’s never seen footwork as good as that. The first fungo you hit him, he just exploded and attacked the ball,” he added. “Dwayne Murphy, who won seven Gold Gloves, was watching him take fly balls and said he was impressive.”

During batting practice, Butterfield said Edelman hit five homers, including two into the middle deck at Rogers Centre.

“In his first round or two, he struggled a little, but you could see the bat speed and the athleticism. And then, he got hot — he hit two balls into the middle deck and five home runs total,” Butterfield said.

“The two in the middle deck were absolute bombs. When he hit them, the guys were just screaming and yelling and telling each other, ‘Look at that!’ He just wowed all of our guys. I’m a huge fan of his to begin with, and he was just even better than I thought. A great athlete.”

Mattd97 wrote:women of toronto watch out, julian edelman is on teh prowl. better to stay inside and not go to the club until he leaves.