You’re probably wondering why the Indians traded for catcher Austin Hedges.
This much is clear: It was definitely not for his bat. At the plate, Hedges finished above the Mendoza Line only twice in five seasons with the Padres. His best season in terms of offensive production was in 2018, when he slashed .231/.282/.429 and posted a 90 wRC+. He then cratered the following season, cutting his wRC+ nearly in half (47).
But behind the plate is a different story.
No metric makes this clearer than the stark contrast between FanGraphs’ total runs above or below average based on Hedges’ offensive contributions (both batting and baserunning) and defensive contributions (fielding and position):