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Guardians

Austin Hedges is hitting .455 for the Guardians after unlocking an offensive secret last fall

Updated: Apr. 08, 2026, 9:39 a.m.|Published: Apr. 08, 2026, 7:40 a.m.

By Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Austin Hedges is hitting .455 with a 1.091 OPS for the Guardians. Read that sentence again, because it might be the most surprising statistical development of the young baseball season.

And according to the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, Hedges told reporters last October that this was coming.

“Remember at the end of last season, Hedges told reporters right after they lost the wild card,” Paul Hoynes recalled on Tuesday’s podcast following Cleveland’s 2-1 walk-off victory. “We were talking to Hedges and he said I, I figured something out offensively. I’m going to work on this in the offseason.”

For a veteran catcher in his 12th major league season, “figuring something out” at the plate sounds like wishful thinking. Hedges has built his career on elite defense and game-calling, not offensive production. But through the early weeks of 2026, something has genuinely clicked.

On Tuesday afternoon at Progressive Field, Hedges collected another single — his fifth inning hit that eventually led to him scoring Cleveland’s first run. Joe Noga, cleveland.com Guardians beat reporter, pointed out the absurdity of the situation on the podcast.

“He’s starting to heat up. What’s he hitting? He’s hitting .455 with a 1.091 OPS and they pinch hit for him in the ninth inning,” Noga said, his voice conveying the bewilderment of the decision.

That’s the cruel irony of Hedges’ hot start: even while absolutely raking, manager Stephen Vogt still sent up Bo Naylor to pinch-hit in the crucial ninth inning with runners on base. To be fair, Naylor drew a walk that put the winning run in scoring position for Brayan Rocchio’s game-ending single. But still — .455 and you’re getting lifted?

The podcast hosts couldn’t help but marvel at the transformation, with Hoynes ultimately shrugging at the mystery of Hedges’ resurgence.

“Who knows, he singles in the fifth inning and comes around and scores, so good for him,” Hoynes said.

What exactly did Hedges discover? What mechanical adjustment did he make during the offseason that has unlocked this offensive production? The podcast didn’t have answers, but that’s part of what makes this story so compelling.

Baseball is full of veterans who claim they’ve “figured something out” only to revert to career norms within weeks. But Hedges has now played enough games that this isn’t just a three-game hot streak. His singled, scored runs, and provided genuine offensive value from a position that traditionally hits near the bottom of the order.

If Hedges can maintain even a fraction of this production — forget .455, even hitting .300 would be revolutionary — it transforms Cleveland’s lineup. Suddenly, there are no automatic outs. No breaks for opposing pitchers. No easy innings.

“If he can be a guy who on occasion gives you something at the plate, that makes the whole lineup just a lot more dangerous because there are no breaks at the end if that’s the case,” Noga argued on the podcast.

The big test comes over the next month. Will Hedges’ “voodoo magic,” as the podcast jokingly called it, hold up? Or will the .455 average regress back toward his career norms?

Either way, watching a 12-year vet reinvent himself at the plate makes for one of the season’s most interesting subplots — even if it means occasionally getting pinch-hit for when you’re the hottest hitter in the lineup.

Listen to the full Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast to hear more about Hedges’ transformation, the decision to pinch-hit for him, and what his offensive contributions mean for the Guardians’ lineup construction going forward.

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Cleveland Guardians Give New Injury Update on Gabriel Arias

Tommy Wild

Partner

Gabriel Arias was just starting to find success at the plate and was turning into an early bright spot for the Cleveland Guardians before he exited Monday’s game with an injury.

After hitting a double to right field, Arias strolled into second base, immediately grabbed his leg, and looked into the Guardians' dugout. A few minutes later, he gingerly walked off the field with the Cleveland head trainer.

The Guardian initially labeled Arias’ injury as right hamstring tightness, but gave a further update on Wednesday ahead of Cleveland’s series finale against the Kansas City Royals, and the shortstop is going to miss a significant amount of time.

“Gabriel Arias sustained a moderate left hamstring strain on Monday, April 6th following a fifth inning double. He submitted to an MRI and clinical exam, which confirmed the diagnosis. He will be re-examined weekly to guide his rehab progression,” read Cleveland’s statement.

The announcement also noted that the recovery time for similar injuries is around four to eight weeks. However, every player and every injury is different, but it still sounds like Arias will be out for at least a month, and perhaps longer.

Any injury is unfortunate, but considering how well Arias was starting to look at the plate, the timing really couldn’t be worse for him or Cleveland.

There’s no question that Arias was off to a slow start to the season, but he was starting to heat up when the calendar flipped to April, and had three hits in April: two home runs and a double.

Plus, Arias represented one of the very few pure right-handed hitters the Guardians have on their 40-man roster.

This success also came after Cleveland’s skipper praised Arias for coming into the season with a new mindset at the plate, one where he’s much more patient and limiting what Vogt called the “egregious chase” that the Guardians have seen from Arias in the past.

With Arias on the sidelines, Brayan Rocchio will continue to be the team’s starting shortstop, with Juan Brito and Daniel Schneemann getting more time at second base.

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Rhys Hoskins Belts Three Doubles in Career Day Helping Lead Guardians to a Win

Hoskins has done a tremendous job getting on base in different outings this season, but none have been better than his ability to do just that on Wednesday.

Cade Cracas

2 hours ago

Rhys Hoskins was just feeling it.

On Wednesday, April 8, the Cleveland Guardians played host to the Kansas City Royals to cap off the two sides' series. The Guardians and Royals were tied, 1-1, with the Guardians taking Tuesday's matchup. With a head full of steam and momentum surging, Hoskins helped lead the offense to an impressive 16 total hits on the game, which helped pull off a 10-2 victory over the Royals.

Hoskins himself contributed three, all of which were doubles, for a career-best performance.

"Yeah, Rhys is a professional hitter," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said following the three-double performance from Hoskins. "The patience, the lack of chase, the ability to think along with pitches, and the ability to go through the Rolodex of what he sees. A lot of those at-bats, he’s ready to go. Swings at the right pitches. Just having him in the middle of the order really makes the lineup longer.

"He’s getting on base unbelievably. Like a day like today, three doubles, that’s pretty cool."

Since joining the team at the beginning of the 2026 MLB Spring Training window, Hoskins has shown flashes of power and consistency at the plate.

He capped off spring training with three doubles and three home runs in under 40 at-bats, carrying that momentum he built into the start of the regular season. From the season-opening series against the Seattle Mariners to Wednesday's win over the Royals, Hoskins is now up to five doubles in just 27 at-bats.

Back in 2025, while with the Milwaukee Brewers, Hoskins hit just 12 doubles and 12 home runs. Currently, he's on pace to surpass those numbers greatly.

His three doubles knocked on Wednesday are the most by a Guardians third baseman since Sept. 24, 2005, when Ben Broussard achieved the feat in a road matchup against Kansas City.

"Yeah, anytime you get grouped with any other good players, that’s a good thing," Hoskins said. "But yeah, we’ll take the three hard hit balls and try to build off it on Friday."

Hoskins' slashing line has jumped to .259/.394/.444, with him also displaying a good eye at the plate. He's drawn a team-high six walks as well.

Alongside Hoskins, Angel Martínez had a great day offensively.

He went 4-for-5 from the plate, which was a career-best, with four hits and four RBI, including a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was the second grand slam of his career.

"It’s fun for Angel, and he has been working tremendously hard," Vogt said in the postgame press conference. "He worked hard all winter. We saw it in the spring a little bit. He has had limited opportunities versus righties to start the year. But to have a day like that can really gather some momentum for him. It’s just fun to see him go out there and do that. It was a great swing on that Grand Slam.

"I like the other two hits better, to be honest. So he’s been doing a great job for us and [it was] a great day for him."

As long as the Guardians can continue to get consistent hitting from top to bottom in the lineup, they'll continue to put wins on the board. Not everyone is going to pull out three doubles or four hits and a grand slam, but when a team like the Guardians can get each player in the lineup on base in some capacity, it's a great sign moving forward.

With an off day on Thursday, Cleveland will prepare to carry this momentum into a road series against the Atlanta Braves. The two sides will clash first on Friday, April 10, with the first pitch set for 7:15 p.m. EST.

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CLEVELAND GUARDIANS

Are the Guardians a World Series contender? ESPN's hot take thinks so

Dan Kadar
Akron Beacon Journal

We may only be a couple weeks into the 2026 MLB season, but expectations for the Cleveland Guardians are already shifting.

Coming into the season, the Guardians were predicted to finish barely above .500 and not win the American League Central Division.

Sitting at 7-5 going into Wednesday's game against the Kansas City Royals, ESPN now has a bold take about the Guardians.

The take is that the Guardians, and their pitching staff, will lead the team back to its first World Series since 2016. ESPN made sure to note that these are, in fact, hot takes. So much so they consider a Guardians World Series the spiciest take, ranking it as "habanero" on their heat scale.

"It's their pitching that's going to carry them into the Fall Classic, fueled by the league's most underrated rotation -- learn the names Parker Messick, Slade Cecconi and Joey Cantillo, because they're going to comprise three-fifths of the second rotation in history (1998 Braves) with 150-plus K's apiece," ESPN writers said. "And when the 2026 books are closed, these Guardians will also become the first team in baseball history to capture three different pieces of postseason hardware (MVP Jose Ramirez, Rookie of the Year Chase DeLauter, Manager of the Year Stephen Vogt)."

It's true that DeLauter is off to a hot start and the team is known for getting the most out of its starting pitchers.

But a World Series prediction is quite bold. Spicy, even.

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The rookie sensation with one of MLB's most unusual swings

17 minutes ago


You might think it looks beautiful. You might think it looks choppy.

You might think it looks like Chase Utley's because of its short, slashing movement. Or you might think the only resemblance between DeLauter and Utley is that they're both named "Chase."

Whatever you think about DeLauter's swing, here is what is undeniably true: With that swing, this kid can rake.

"It's Chase's swing. It's my swing," DeLauter said this week. "That's it. No one else's."

SEE FOR YOURSELF - BREAKING DOWN THE SWING

https://www.mlb.com/news/chase-delauter ... -breakdown

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