Austin Hedges

Austin Hedges

Hedges with Lake Elsinore Storm 2013
San Diego Padres – No. 18
Catcher
Born: (1992-08-18) August 18, 1992
San Juan Capistrano, California
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 4, 2015, for the San Diego Padres
MLB statistics
(through 2016 season)
Batting average .161
Hits 26
Home runs 3
Runs batted in 12
Teams

Austin Charles Hedges (born August 18, 1992) is an American professional baseball catcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball.

Professional career

Hedges was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the second round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft out of JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, California.[1] He had committed to UCLA, but signed with the Padres for $3 million.[2]

Prior to the 2012 season, Baseball America ranked Hedges as the Padres fifth best prospect.[3] Playing for the Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Midwest League, Hedges hit .279/.334/.451 with 10 home runs in 96 games.[4] Scouts considered Hedges to be a stand-out defender who had surprised them with his batting at Class-A.[5][6]

In 2013, MLB.com ranked Hedges the fourth best catching prospect in the minors.[7] He started the year with the Class-A Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm where he hit .270 with four home runs in 66 games. He was promoted to the Double-A San Antonio Missions in August where he hit .224 in 20 games. He was also named to the All-Star Futures Game in 2013.[8]

Hedges received a non-roster invitation to the big league spring training camp for the second time in 2014.[9] He was ranked #27 on Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects list coming into the season.[10]

In 2015, Hedges joined the El Paso Chihuahuas of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League.[11] The Padres promoted Hedges to the major leagues on May 4.[12] On May 6, Hedges notched his first Major League hit, an RBI single in the third inning of a game against the San Francisco Giants.[13] He recorded 137 plate appearances during the 2015 season, hitting for a .168 batting average.[14] In the offseason, Hedges played for the Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Winter League.[15]

Hedges was invited to spring training in 2016, but began the season in El Paso.[16] In April, he was diagnosed with a fractured hamate bone in his left hand, and missed six to eight weeks of the season.[17]

References

  1. ↑ "Padres open Day 2 with high-upside backstop". MLB.com. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Baseball: JSerra's Austin Hedges signs with San Diego Padres". Los Angeles Times. August 15, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  3. ↑ Eddy, Matt (December 12, 2011). "Baseball America Padres top 2012 prospects". Baseballamerica.com. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Hedges continues to impress in instructional league". MLB.com. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ Newman, Mike (March 25, 2013). "Padres Austin Hedges is cerebral and skilled". FanGraphs.com. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Scouting Report: Austin Hedges (C)". Baseball Prospect Nation. October 23, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  7. ↑ Pentis, Andrew (June 30, 2013). "Padres' Hedges a keeper at catcher". MILB.com. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Padres prospects Austin Hedges and Yeison Asencio chosen for Futures Game". MLB.com. June 25, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  9. ↑ Sanders, Jeff (February 18, 2014). "Hedges, Wisler soaking it all up". UT SanDiego. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  10. ↑ "2014 Baseball America Top 100 Prospects: The 25th Edition". Baseball America. February 20, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ "El Paso Chihuahuas announce 2015 opening day roster". El Paso Times. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  12. ↑ Lin, Dennis. "Padres promote Austin Hedges, DFA Wil Nieves - UT San Diego". U-T San Diego. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  13. ↑ Lin, Dennis (May 6, 2015). "Hedges 'great' in first major league start". UT San Diego. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  14. ↑ Miller, Bryce (March 27, 2016). "Austin Hedges red hot — and still likely Triple-A bound". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  15. ↑ Pace, Robert (January 21, 2016). "Padres catcher Austin Hedges' painful experience in the Dominican Winter League". Fox Sports. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  16. ↑ Lin, Dennis (March 5, 2016). "Hedges making strides at the plate". UT San Diego. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  17. ↑ Lin, Dennis (April 26, 2016). "Hedges has hamate fracture, will have surgery". UT San Diego. Retrieved May 1, 2016.

External links

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