Analyst Uses One Incredible Stat To Spotlight Austin Hedges

Austin Hedges has spent his entire career being valued primarily for his defense behind the plate. That narrative has taken a genuine turn in 2026, with Hedges hitting .288 on the season along with a .764 OPS, numbers that would represent a career year for a player long regarded as one of the better defensive catchers in the sport regardless of what he did at the plate.

WKYC’s Nick Camino captured just how surprising that turnaround has been with a simple stat.

“Austin Hedges is hitting .288 on the season. It’s July 8th,” Camino posted.

Austin Hedges is hitting .288 on the season…

It's July 8th.

— Nick Camino (@NickCaminoWKYC) July 9, 2026

Hedges has a long track record of fading as seasons wear on, with career numbers hovering closer to the low .200s across parts of nine major league seasons, so seeing him still above .280 well into July represents something Cleveland fans have simply never gotten used to watching from him.

Cleveland’s catching situation has been in flux for much of the season, with Patrick Bailey arriving in a trade from San Francisco and Bo Naylor being sent down to the minors. Hedges stepping up offensively at the same time has given Cleveland far more stability behind the plate than the front office likely could have expected entering the year, especially given his reputation as a glove first player throughout his career. His ability to still call a strong game and control opposing running attacks only adds to the value of a hot bat nobody saw coming.

Whether Hedges can sustain this pace through the rest of the season remains an open question given his history of tailing off as workloads pile up at a physically demanding position. For now, his production has been one of the more pleasant surprises on a Cleveland roster that has needed every bit of offense it can find while missing Jose Ramirez and Angel Martinez. If Hedges keeps hitting anywhere close to this level, he gives Cleveland a level of two-way value at catcher that very few teams around the league can match.