Pirates announce signing of free agent catcher Austin Hedges to 1-year, $5 million deal

Austin Hedges was raised in Southern California, but his family roots run deep in Pittsburgh, so the free-agent catcher was pumped about the prospect of playing games for the Pirates at PNC Park.

Hedges visited his mother’s family in the South Hills every year, recounting with pride that his late grandfather, Pete Opar, emigrated from Ukraine and was one of the first 13 employees for US Air.

“I came here all the time in the winter, some summers. Spent a lot of time here. It was kind of like a second home for me growing up,” said Hedges, whose mother, Pam, is a graduate of Upper St. Clair High School. “It’s gonna be really special on Opening Day. I used to come to games with (my grandfather) as a kid, knowing that PNC Park was one of my favorite parks in the whole league. To be able to call that home now is going to be really special.”

New Pirates catcher Austin Hedges on his deep family roots with Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/lSjRvvwIxm

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) December 20, 2022

The Pirates formally announced Tuesday the free-agent signing of the defense-first catcher to a one-year, $5 million contract. Hedges joins Endy Rodriguez — ranked the Pirates’ top prospect by MLB Pipeline — as the only catchers on the 40-man roster.

To make room for Hedges, the Pirates designated infielder/outfielder Diego Castillo for assignment, per the transactions on his MLB player page. Castillo, 25, batted .206/.251/.382 with 13 doubles, 11 home runs and 29 RBIs in 96 games last season and was one of their most versatile position players, playing 32 games at shortstop, 28 at second base, 22 in right field, seven at first base, four at third base and even pitching twice in relief.

Hedges, 30, spent the past two-plus seasons with Cleveland, where he batted .163 with four doubles, seven home runs and 30 RBIs and recorded eight defensive runs saved in 105 games last season. Hedges is known as an elite pitch framer and has the fourth-most runs saved (41) since Baseball Savant started tracking the statistic in 2015. He has 75 career DRS and a career dWAR of 6.0, the highest of any Pirates player. He also has thrown out 31% (102 of 238) of baserunners attempting to steal against him.

“We are excited to add Austin to our group,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said in a statement. “He’s been one of the best defensive catchers in baseball for years and has earned a terrific reputation for his positive impact on pitchers.”

Drafted in the second round in 2011 by the Padres, Hedges made his debut in 2015 and batted .199 with 44 doubles, 49 homers and 146 RBIs in 406 games over six seasons. He was traded to Cleveland in a nine-player deal that sent pitcher Mike Clevinger to the Padres in August 2020. In 199 games over two-plus seasons with the Guardians, Hedges batted .169 with 11 doubles, 17 homers and 61 RBIs.

Over eight seasons with San Diego and Cleveland, Hedges has a career .189 batting average with 55 doubles, 66 home runs and 207 RBIs. He flashed power with the Padres, hitting 18 homers with 55 RBIs in 2017, 14 homers in 2018 and 11 in 2019.

“I’ve done it before,” Hedges said. “Hitting has not been as easy as catching has been for me. On the hitting side, I’ve had a couple years of some things happened physically where I haven’t been as close to 100% as I would like to be. But my body is in a great spot right now. I feel healthy. I like where my swing’s at. I always remember that I’ve done it before. I’ve hit 18 homers. I’ve hit 14 homers. I’ve had good numbers in the minor leagues as well. I know it’s in there. I’ve done it before. With a fresh start here, I feel like there’s no reason why I can’t contribute on both sides of the ball.”