Austin Hedges

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2011
R:  313/500/500, 16 AB, 1 HR, 5 BB, 1 K, 1-1 SB
A-:  100/250/200, 10 AB, 1 2B, 2 BB, 3 K

Hedges signed late after the draft and played only briefly.  Baseball America ranked him fifth among the Padres’ prospects.

2012
A:  279/334/451, 337 AB, 28 2B, 10 HR, 23 BB, 62 K, 14-23 SB

San Diego sent Hedges to full season ball and he had a very good year.  BA ranked him fourth in the system.

2013
A+:  270/343/425, 233 AB, 22 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 22 BB, 45 K, 5-9 SB
AA:  224/297/269, 67 AB, 3 2B, 6 BB, 9 K, 3-4 SB

Hedges had another good year, mostly in high A, although the high-offense environment in the California League has to be taken into account; his numbers were very close to the league averages.  He missed a month after getting hit on the hand by a pitch, but did finish the season in AA.  BA ranked him the team’s top prospect.

2014
AA:  225/268/321, 427 AB, 19 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 23 BB, 89 K, 1-4 SB

The Padres kept Hedges in AA all year but, after a solid first half at the plate, he collapsed in the second half.  BA still ranked him fifth in the team’s system.

2015
AAA:  324/392/521, 71 AB, 8 2B, 2 HR, 8 BB, 8 K, 1-1 SB
MLB:  168/215/248, 137 AB, 2 2B, 3 HR, 8 BB, 38 K

Hedges opened the season and hit very well through early May, when San Diego called him up.  He spent the rest of the season in the majors, mainly as a backup to Derek Norris, and struggled to hit.

2016
AAA:  326/353/597, 313 AB, 20 2B, 1 3B, 21 HR, 13 BB, 51 K, 1-2 SB
MLB:  125/154/167, 24 AB, 1 2B, 7 K, 0-1 SB

The Padres sent Hedges back to AAA for most of the season.  He had a big year there, but didn’t get called up until late September.

2017
R:  000/000/000, 3 AB, 2 K
MLB:  215/262/398, 387 AB, 17 2B, 18 HR, 23 BB, 122 K, 4-5 SB

Apart from a brief injury rehab, Hedges spent the season in the majors, serving as the Padres’ primary catcher.  He hit for solid power, but struggled to make contact or get on base.

2018
A+:  333/357/417, 12 AB, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
AAA:  407/452/852, 27 AB, 3 2B, 3 HR, 3 BB, 9 K
MLB:  231/282/429, 303 AB, 14 2B, 2 3B, 14 HR, 21 BB, 90 K, 3-3 SB

Hedges again served as San Diego’s primary catcher, wlthouth he missed a month with elbow tendinitis.  He again hit for fairly good power and struggled to do much else.

2019
MLB:  176/252/311, 312 AB, 9 2B, 11 HR, 27 BB, 109 K, 1-1 SB

Hedges spent the full season with the Padres and remained their primary catcher, but he lost some playing time as the year went along to prospect Francisco Mejia.  Hedges’ hitting tailed off in all areas.

2020
MLB (SD):  158/258/333, 57 AB, 1 2B, 3 HR, 6 BB, 18 K, 1-2 SB
MLB (Cleve):  083/083/083, 12 AB, 5 K

In the pandemic season, Hedges remained the Padres’ top catcher, but his hitting tailed off even further and he went to Cleveland in a nine-player trade at the end of August.  He played very little after the trade.

2021
MLB:  178/220/308, 286 AB, 7 2B, 10 HR, 15 BB, 87 K, 1-1 SB

Hedges split the Guardians’ catching duties with Roberto Perez and several other catchers, playing a little over half the time.  His hitting remained very bad.

2022
MLB:  163/241/248, 294 AB, 4 2B, 7 HR, 25 BB, 78 K, 2-2 SB

The Guardians again employed Hedges behind the plate a little over half the time.  His hitting got still worse, as his power mostly disappeared.

After 2022, the Pirates were widely expected to re-sign Roberto Perez, who missed most of the season with an injury.  Instead, they signed Hedges, probably due to injury concerns with Perez.  The Pirates are expected to call Endy Rodriguez up in 2023, although he’ll no doubt be stuck in AAA until the team feels he’s past super two eligibility.  Once Rodriguez comes up, Hedges should become the backup catcher, but with the Pirates, logic seldom plays a role.