Trimming the Hedges

Austin Hedges is currently the worst hitter in the majors leagues with 30 plate appearances. The Padres catcher collected his first hit of the season on Thursday against the Rockies, and it was a single. He walked twice and was hit by a pitch, but struck out nine times in his 31 PA. For his major league career, consisting of 209 PA, his slash line stands at .144/.195/.207. If a manager could, he would use Madison Bumgarner as a designated hitter for Hedges.

Those numbers are not surprising based on his AA record. He posted a .225/.272/.314 slash line in two seasons at San Antonio. His AAA numbers are terrific, however, with a .326/.363/.583 slash line at El Paso. My first thought is that both of those minor league parks must have been extremes, but that would still put Hedges somewhere in the middle of those two lines, say .275/.314/.440. That would probably not make him a great major league player, but not horrible for a very good catcher.

It would appear the Padres are going to give him a chance to hit at the MLB level:

“I’d put him in the 120-to-135 range (for starts),” manager Andy Green said. “That’s the sweet spot that’d be nice to hit. But we’ll leave some wiggle room as the season unfolds.”

Much as a youth-dominated roster is relying on the instruction of Green and his coaches, there is no confusion about the Padres’ on-field anchor. Hedges has long been groomed for this role, 2015 the only season of his career in which he did not play nearly every game; with their catching depth insufficient, the Padres had prematurely promoted the then-prospect to the majors.

When he came up in 2015, his seasonal age was 22. There are plenty of players ready for the majors at that age. What is good is that the Padres are going to be patient with him. The Red Sox did this with Dustin Pedrioa. They allowed him to struggle for a month, and the rest of the season was great. The Padres have to hope the same thing happens here.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2o9YzPK