Let’s talk about the catchers of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The man of the hour is Austin Hedges, the starting catcher of the Buccs who is a polarizing character in the MLB community. Cleveland Guardians fans love him, which I can only assume is because of his defensive prowess. It’s a necessary attribute for one of the most active positions on the diamond, but he’s the worst hitter in baseball. His bat can't hit anything worthwhile, and his production in this category all but guarantees at least three outs a game for an offense. For this reason, Pittsburgh Pirates fans detest him and would love to see him designated for assignment as soon as possible. Hedges is not featured anywhere near the top of the Pirates’ fan store sorted by the category “top selling,” and you also can't sell him to me as a player worth paying any amount of money, let alone $5 million a year.
Hedges played for the Guardians from 2020 to 2022. In that time, Hedges played in 199 games and slugged his way to a miserable 100 hits garnering 58 runs. Oh, I forgot to mention that was the product of 592 at-bats. Sure, I could throw you his defensive stats, like runs saved and blocks and outs above average, but those are all more advanced metrics for extreme ball-knowers, also known as nerds. I’m using surface-level stats to cover a large surface area using this specific three-year gap that caused Guardians fans to lose their minds about an objectively bad baseball player.
For Pirates fans, a player like this comes at a higher expense. We haven't won many baseball games since the year 2015 and have been crawling around in the dirt digging for a reason to not quit watching. Back then, we made the playoffs three consecutive years from 2013 to 2015– that was fun. Since then, we have won 447 games out of 1,032 played in the combined years leading up to the current 2023 season. A 43% win rate, losing 57% of the time and no playoff appearances is an atrociously bad combination for fans of the team in those seven years. But now we have Austin Hedges catching, so everything is all right, right?
Things are not quite all right. After a miraculous April start that gave us a record of 20-8, we’ve now settled back into the Pirates norm, watching a badly run team crumble at the hands of mismanagement and a lack of ambition. Surely the Pirates could do something to counter this horrible time by trying to give its fans a good year after such a tremendous start, right? They haven’t so far because our record currently sits at 35-42, which saw losing streaks of up to 10 in a row to get there.
The good, consistent bright spots on this team can be found in Mitch Keller, Bryan Reynolds, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Andrew McCutchen, and I’ll note here that none of these players are catchers. Keller is a pitcher who locks down an opportunity for our bats to win the game. Reynolds consistently hits in the .280 area. Advanced metrics have ranked Hayes as the best defender in the entire league. McCutchen is a Pirates legend who has returned to the team this year to get on base 39% of the time. I also have to give Jack Suwinski some credit for his team-leading 15 home runs this year. We need help at catcher, starting pitcher, shortstop (while Oneil Cruz heals up from a leg injury) and hitting in general. Hedges provides us with none of this.
So what are the Pirates doing to improve the team? The answer is nothing. We have two of the best-ranked prospects in the league in catchers Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez. If the Pirates truly want to win more games this year to finish with a presentable project, the Pirates must call both of these men up to the big leagues and platoon them at catcher instead of Hedges. Davis is already here and batting .250 in his first 8 games, netting one home run, two stolen bases and two runs scored in that time. He’s learning, but he’ll learn well. Although Rodriguez is still at AAA-affiliate Indianapolis, he is playing reliable defense and has batted 373 hits in 1,273 at-bats in the minor leagues. He has hit 49 home runs while batting in 235 bases. He is a good bat who is not going to disappear in the Major League. I think the best option for the Pirates going forward is playing Davis at right field and Rodriguez at catcher to remove Hedges from the lineup.
So where does that leave Hedges? In my opinion, for this year, he should back up both of these men, playing only when it is necessary to give them a rest. The Pirates, in turn, could gain two reliable players for their everyday starting lineup, adding to both their defense and their offense. It would instantly increase the team’s chances of winning games, which is what any serious organization should do. But, based on what I have said throughout this entire column, the Pirates are a joke.
I think to turn it around, they could make these changes in a year, but this needs to happen now because baseball is a business. To increase revenue, you can play better baseball, which would earn more ticket-purchasing fans through the doors, increasing the profit value that lives in winning teams. That is, winning games leads to media attention, which means advertisement value, which means even more money for our stingy billionaire owner, Bob Nutting. Listen to the money, Bob, it will not lie to you. A productive, simple plan could all start with Hedges sitting on the pine. It’s more valuable than the $5 million the Pirates decided to pay him.
Paul Nern is a senior studying communication studies at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Paul know by emailing him pn501919@ohio.edu.
