The main thing any team wants to do in the final days of spring training is to get out of them healthy. With plans for the upcoming season all but finalized, a last-minute setback could have lingering consequences.
Unfortunately, the Cleveland Guardians may find themselves in that situation with Austin Hedges. The backup catcher was hit in the hand by a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and to make matters worse, it was in the ninth inning of the next-to-last spring training game, and Hedges was the DH.
Afterward, manager Stephen Vogt revealed an update on Hedges’ injury, saying they were “hoping for the best.”
“We don’t know. We’re gonna scan in the morning, just with where we are in spring and it being spring training, so. It got him good in the hand. There’s some bruising, but so we’ll, we’ll get a scan tomorrow. We’ll know more in the morning. … You never want to get hit, you know that’s scary … you can’t be tough, you know what I mean. It’s when there’s a lot of little bones. But we’re hoping for the best,” Vogt said, per Mason Horodyski.
#Guardians Stephen Vogt on Austin Hedges’ injury:
“We don't know. We’re gonna scan in the morning, just with where we are in spring and it being spring training, so. It got him good in the hand. There's some bruising, but so we'll, we'll get a scan tomorrow. We'll know more in… https://t.co/TAuhu7rYzM
— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) March 24, 2026
The Guardians are fortunate in the sense that they have David Fry available as a third catcher, along with Hedges and starter Bo Naylor. Fry was unable to play the field last season as he recovered from elbow surgery, but he showed he was capable of manning the position this spring.
Hedges is about to enter his third consecutive season with the Guardians, and fifth overall after playing in 2023 for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers. The 11-year veteran is considered a defensive specialist, and last season he appeared in 68 games behind the plate with 54 starts.
He is a limited offensive player with a lifetime batting average below .200. After Naylor improved his offense tremendously late last season, and with Fry now returning to the mix, it is unclear how much playing time Hedges was in line for this season. Yet, whatever those plans were, they may need to change to open the campaign.
If Hedges winds up on the injured list, it is unlikely the Guardians would use the available spot on a catcher. So that could provide an opportunity for a player who was not going to be on the 26-man roster for Opening Day to get another chance.
The Guardians and their fans will await a prognosis on Hedges’ injury, and the team will then decide where to go from there.
NEXT: Guardians Get Encouraging Update On Hunter Gaddis
