Cleveland Guardians catcher Austin Hedges started his MLB career in 2015 with the San Diego Padres. Outfielder Will Venable played for that organization between 2008 and August 2015, when he was traded.
The two players shared the same clubhouse and team for several months. They became familiar with one another. Hedges was impressed with Venable’s leadership skills and knew they would take him somewhere one day.
Last year, Venable became the manager of the Chicago White Sox, one of the worst teams in baseball. A year and a half later, he has the Pale Hose with a 39-37 record, just one game behind the division leader: the Guardians.
Evidently, Venable has helped transform the franchise and is set to become a formidable foe for Cleveland for years to come. Hedges, of course, is impressed but not surprised.
“What they’ve done is extremely impressive. I know Will Venable really well. He is an extremely good leader of men. It’s not surprising to me that he helped turn those boys around. You could tell last year that they were starting to come together a little bit. That organization and team is hungry to win ballgames,” Hedges told Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. “I’m always impressed when teams overcome hardships. We haven’t played them yet, but we know it’s going to be a battle with them in the division for the rest of the year.”
Hedges has been around the game long enough to understand how these things work. Except for a brief period between 2020 and 2022, the White Sox have been bad since 2013, and were one of the worst teams in the league from 2023 to 2025.
During that time, however, they stockpiled young talent via trades, the draft, and free agency. Now, they seem ready to become relevant again, and Venable’s leadership and clubhouse management skills are a big reason why.
He took a team that finished 41-121 in 2024 and won 19 more games in 2025, wrapping up that season with a 60-102 record. The growth shown this year has been nothing short of amazing.
The Guardians and White Sox will open a three-game set on Monday in Chicago, and Hedges knows that Cleveland will have an incredibly tough and well-coached team in front of them.
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