The Glue Guy: How Austin Hedges Became the Backbone of the Guardians

This is Part 1 of a three-part series, releasing every two days, highlighting the career of Cleveland Guardians catcher Austin Hedges, whose value to the clubhouse is at an all-time high.

On June 7, 2011, Austin Hedges' career in professional baseball began.

After waiting through Day 1 of the 2011 MLB June Amateur Draft, which included the first and supplementary rounds, Hedges sat back and heard his name called with the 15th overall selection in the second round.

The San Diego Padres wanted to take a chance on the player who was fresh out of high school.

Widely regarded as one of the best defensive catchers available, it came as a surprise that the Padres were willing to take such a big risk by using a high pick on a player that many believed was dead-set on attending UCLA. He had committed to the university before his senior season of high school ball.

"My dad went to UCLA; I grew up a fan my whole life," said Hedges back in a 2013 interview with MiLB.com. "I wanted to enjoy all the sports and get the whole college experience. "It's one nice big package, everything about it felt right. Their baseball team is outstanding and the coaching is excellent as well. Westwood is a beautiful area.

"It's an amazing school and that's where I wanted to go from the get-go."

But as fate would have it, his decision to forgo attending a college that had such a strong emotional connection to him and jump right into the Padres' minor league system would pay off.

The Minor Leagues

At the ripe age of 18 years old, Hedges spent time with the Padres' minor league affiliate, the Eugene Emeralds, and the organization's rookie ball team in Arizona. He took a bit of time to settle in and get a feel for the game.

After all, just months prior, he was in high school.

He finished his first campaign with nine games played and 34 plate appearances, slashing a promising .231/.412/.385 for an OPS of .796. He had hit one double and one home run, drawing seven walks to four strikeouts in the process.

He was certainly a bit shy at the plate, but it was obvious that with the right development, he could get his bat going.

Across his second and third seasons with the Padres, he would bump that batting average up to the mid-270s. He was showing more and more power by the game, finishing with a combined 58 doubles and 14 home runs through 2012 and 2013.

When asked about what his goals were at the plate, Hedges said that he wasn't trying to blast the baseball, but rather drive it and put it in play.

“I have high expectations for myself,” said Hedges back in a 2013 interview with the Padres on MLB.com. “I’m not necessarily trying to hit home runs. I’m just trying to drive the ball. I expect to do good things with the bat, and it’s been nice to see.”

He would continue to take steps forward in his game, proving to the front office that he wasn't just a strong defender, but also a consistent hitter. He ended up batting .324 in Triple-A in 2015, which put his name on the fast track to a big league promotion.

In the process, the native of San Juan Capistrano, Cali., posted a .986 fielding percentage between 2014 and 2015 across over 1,000 innings behind home plate. He was turning double plays and catching runners stealing, attributes of his game that would end up seeing him ranked as one of the top catching prospects in baseball at the time.

A Jump to the Bigs

San Diego's front office decided to ride his hot Triple-A bat and see what he could do in 2015, promoting him to the major league roster. He ended up struggling... quite a bit actually, slashing .168/.215/.248 for an OPS worth .463.

It wasn't good enough yet for the organization to trust him to move into a full-time role in the big leagues, but Hedges wasn't disheartened.

He learned that those opportunities he was given allowed him to learn what was needed to play regularly at the highest level of the game.

“The biggest thing I took from it was having a consistent routine each day,” said Hedges in a 2016 interview with Baseball America. “Show up at the field, then prepare myself both physically and mentally.”

From 2016 through 2018, Hedges continued to bounce up and down from Triple-A to the major leagues. He would all-out bash the ball in the minors, then disappear in the majors.

The Padres didn't really know what to do with him, as he was one of the most reliable defensive catchers in baseball, but at the plate, he was practically invisible. Maybe it was something in the way he was adjusting to big league pitchers, maybe it was something mentally, but whatever it was, San Diego's coaching staff seemed focused on addressing it.

But although they could tell he needed work, he was even more focused than they were on correcting the wrongs that were apparent in his game, setting goals to be accomplished one by one in the process.

In an early-career interview, he portrayed just how dedicated he was to being a staple behind a major league organization's home plate eventually.

"I try to stay away from number and result-based goals, just going about my business every day," he said. "Trying to learn and get better every day at something new, making adjustments. I think the results will come, not taking any days off. These are goals I try to maintain."

When asked about Hedges' promise that he was showing, then-Padres major league manager Andy Green revealed that he believed that the graduate of JSerra Catholic High School would one day be the primary option at catcher for the Padres.

“When the opportunity presents itself, he’s a guy who’s very much a part of our future,” said Green back in the late 2010s.

And then in 2020, practically out of the blue, Hedges' life was completely uprooted.

Part 2 of "The Glue Guy" series will release at 5:00 p.m. EST on Monday, May 4.

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