Baseball fans, get ready to see #Swoon an awful lot. That's what Padres supporters on Twitter have used to talk about Austin Hedges, and he is coming to The Show.
One of the crown jewels of the Padres system and the number one defensive catching prospect in all of baseball, Hedges is joining the team this week in San Francisco. Hedges broke the news to his Junipero Serra high school baseball coach and the cat was out of the bag
The 22-year-old Hedges has long been considered a Gold Glove-caliber defensive catcher. The question was whether or not he could hit enough. So far this season at Triple-A El Paso Hedges is batting .343 with two home runs, far and away the best offensive start to any of his professional seasons.
Padres starter Ian Kennedy told me he made it a point early in Spring Training to ask manager Bud Black if he could throw to Hedges and had nothing but good things to say about the young backstop.
A corresponding roster move has not yet been announced.
