Starting this season, Major League Baseball is allowing pitchers, catchers, and hitters to challenge umpire calls using the ABS system. It’s the perfect way to keep the game as fair as possible while also not losing too much time.
The Cleveland Guardians haven’t been too good at challenges, though. Their hitters have been the worst in the majors when it comes to overturn effectiveness, with a 29 percent success rate. They are the only squad, as of Tuesday afternoon, with a rate under 30 percent, with seven overturns in 24 attempts.
Guardians catchers, however, have been much better than the hitters at the time of requesting challenges. As always, the numbers don’t lie.
“Cleveland’s catchers have largely held up their end of the bargain. Led by Austin Hedges, Guardians backstops have posted a 52.9% success rate, right around league average. Hedges himself has been among the best in baseball, going 7-for-10 (70%) on challenges, a top-five mark among catchers with at least 10 challenges,” Noga wrote.
There you have it. This development proves that Hedges is, indeed, one of the top catchers in baseball in the fine arts of defending his position and everything it implies: blocking, throwing to the bases, calling games, and, in this particular case, asking for challenges.
This represents more evidence that Hedges has a deep knowledge of the strike zone and uses it to his team’s benefit. It’s as simple as that: seven times out of ten, he has saved the umpire from making a mistake and helped his squad in the process.
Hedges might not be much of a hitter, as his 50 career wRC+ clearly indicates. However, he can impact games with his framing and his knowledge of the strike zone, in addition to his excellent game-calling skills. Parker Messick himself revealed that Hedges was the one calling all the pitches in his most recent start, when he flirted with a no-hitter.
Evidently, there’s a lot of value in having a backup catcher like Hedges, even if he doesn’t really contribute much at the plate. The work he does behind it makes all the difference in the world.
NEXT: Former Player Makes Bold Prediction About Guardians
