The plaudits for Austin Hedges circulated far and wide before his first season as the Padres’ everyday catcher. Recently, a brighter spotlight has not altered the view of trained observers. The 24-year-old made his 68th career start Friday, but he already rates as elite in a critical aspect.

“Hedges has one peer defensively, and in all honesty he’s probably better than Yadi today,” one rival scout said, referencing eight-time Gold Glove winner Yadier Molina. “...He doesn’t need to do too much more than .220 with 18-plus home runs to be a top-five or so catcher.”

While some quibble with that evaluation — another scout considered Hedges a top-five defender “with the potential to be top two or three in a few years” — the Padres, by consensus, are set behind the plate. What Hedges can and will provide at the plate is a topic of evolving debate.

With April not yet over, Hedges has experienced both ends of the spectrum. There was an 0-for-24 start, during which a fan base fretted and the Padres applauded his unwavering attention to defense. Then, after a slight mechanical adjustment, came six home runs in a nine-game span. Entering Friday’s contest at AT&T Park, the only catcher who had gone deep as often was Kansas City’s Salvador Perez.


“I did it last year. Obviously, it wasn’t in the big leagues,” said Hedges, who raked for Triple-A El Paso in 2016, homering 21 times in 334 plate appearances. “I haven’t surprised myself. Still not really thinking about the result part of it, but what I’ve been doing, definitely it hasn’t surprised me.

“I don’t think any of my goals for the year are numbers-based. I think if I do what I expect out of myself, I think the numbers will come. And that’s just basically going out and having a good at-bat every time, swinging at the pitch that I’m ready to hit.”

Hedges, who had never totaled more than 10 home runs in a season prior to 2016, worked with hitting coach Alan Zinter last spring to create more torque in his swing. The changes, which included the addition of a leg kick, produced results in the offense-packed Pacific Coast League. In a small sample size, they have made Hedges a legitimate threat at the highest level.

“I think he’s capable of great things,” Zinter said. “We’re going to continue to work. We’re not sitting there going ‘we need to get to 15 home runs.’ We’re trying to get him to understand the process and repeat his process, master his timing, master what he needs to do and just have a great career.”


If the last couple of weeks are an indication, it could be a multi-dimensional one. Even as Padres officials have maintained their belief in Hedges’ bat, opposing teams have taken note of his development.

“I think the power is legit,” the first scout said. “Only flag is, the pitches I see him do damage on are mostly off-speed. His swing in (batting practice) is very good and short. It tends to get big in the game.”

“The (defensive) potential is obviously top-notch,” the second scout said. “He should hit, too, and not just for power.”

Hedges, meantime, has kept his priorities in order. The Padres’ lack of concern during his season-opening slump was partly due to the quality of his defensive and game-calling efforts.


“That’s what I have to fall back on, is my pitchers,” Hedges said. “As long as I’m on the same page as them, I’m competing with them, we’re on the same page, I sleep well at night knowing that I at least did that part of the job, because that’s the more important thing.”

Said Padres manager Andy Green: “There’s winning players at premium positions that … you can derive immense value from what they do with the glove. And Austin brings that value. I know people say it’s crazy, but I’m not the least bit concerned with what he does offensively this year. I want him to go catch, I want him to be sold out to the pitchers, I want him to make them better, and when he does that I think the offense is going to be more than enough to be really good for a long time.”

Potentially enough that .220 with 18 home runs will wind up a low bar.

“He’s smart, he works, he asks questions, he listens and he’s got athleticism and feel,” Green said. “That’s all intrinsic to him — nobody went and put that in him. Those things make him a likely candidate to be better than maybe the industry expects.”

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