I remember hearing a story Cleveland Guardians dugout reporter Andre Knott told on a podcast before this past baseball season about what Jose Ramirez thought was missing from the 2023 team that finished below .500 and missed the playoffs. The basic gist of the story was that Ramirez had been rummaging in a storage closet near the team’s home clubhouse at Progressive Field and had found an old locker placard. Ramirez said to Knott something along the lines of “This is what we are missing this year!” and slapped the placard down on the desk Knott was sitting at.
The placard had Austin Hedges’s name on it.
The Guardians are an organization that believes that over the course of 162 games over more than six months, clubhouse chemistry matters. Look no further than their last two managerial hirings for evidence of this notion. But further, last winter the team not only tried to improve the vibes in the dugout by hiring Stephen Vogt, but by bringing back former catcher Austin Hedges to a 1-year, $4 million deal.
If 92 wins and a trip to the American League Championship Series wasn’t enough of a ringing endorsement for their theory, then let it be known that the Guardians’ front office has decided to repeat the process. On Wednesday, it was announced that Hedges has re-signed with the team to an identical 1-year, $4 million deal. Presumably, he will retain his position as the backup catcher in relation to starter Bo Naylor. He will also retain his position as a glue guy and unofficial team leader.
Not to take away from his qualities but Hedges’s intangibles are the lead story in this re-signing in part because his offensive acumen is far from great. He hit .152 with two home runs in 146 plate appearances over 66 games last season for the Guardians. However, to think that Hedges is solely a mascot and incapable of affecting play on the field because of his admitted weakness with a bat in hand does not tell the whole story.
There are few better defense catchers in the sport than Hedges. In 2024, the Guardians would often place him behind the plate when one of their starting pitchers who was going through a cold streak was on the mound solely because they felt like he was able to manage their pitchers through the game so well. He is an exceptional pitch caller as well as a coach on the field.
Additionally, Hedges is one of the best pitch framers in the sport. He finished the season with 6 Framing Runs, according to Statcast. No catcher who received less than 1500 pitches had more Framing Runs (a cumulative stat). If he had received the same number of pitchers as Naylor had last season, Hedges would have finished third in MLB in Framing Runs overall.
Speaking of Naylor, he is the one other component of Hedges’ 2024 season worth mentioning. While Bo Naylor didn’t hit nearly as well as many would have hoped and expected in his first full season in the Majors, he certainly played defense and managed games behind the plate in a way that was actually better than expected (jitters in Game 1 of the ALCS notwithstanding. Those should by no means dismiss the previous six months of quality play behind the plate that Bo showed).
Naylor contributed eight framing runs of his own, which was 7th best in MLB. Of the 41 catchers that received pitches for 2000 plate appearances, Naylor finished 9th in Catcher’s ERA. This improvement came in part due to the support system that was placed around Naylor including Vogt, Sandy Alomar and indeed, Austin Hedges.
Hedges’s re-signing is potentially the opening salvo in an off-season that could see the Guardians improve upon a roster that exceeded expectations in 2024, but still likely has another step to take in order to compete for a World Series Championship.
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