Austin Hedges 2026 Guardians · C · bats R · throws R · 142 PA
Grade
Contact Quality: 18th percentile Power: 32nd percentile Discipline: 39th percentile Contact: 68th percentile Hard Contact: 13th percentile F 18th percentile contact quality
Free-Swinging Contact Bat-to-ball first, seldom walks, light power.
Soft contact is the story so far Austin Hedges keeps the strikeouts in check — strikes out less often than 68% of qualified hitters. The contact is soft, though — only 13% of qualified hitters hit the ball with less authority.
Each spoke is a skill estimate adjusted for sample size — not raw season stats — so farther out = better. Percentiles vs. 463 qualified hitters. Data through 2026-07-09. Plays like… Same archetype, nearest by rate — the hitters whose profile looks most like this one.
What drives it What drives it Every plate appearance ends one of three ways: a strikeout (0 bases), a walk (1 base), or a ball in play worth its estimated bases. The bar splits his value into those pieces, versus the league. More bases is better. In the table, 100th percentile = best in MLB.
Bases per plate appearance
Austin Hedges League Percentile Bases per ball in play(higher = better) .474 .507 18th Walk rate(higher = better) 8% 8% 39th Strikeout rate(fewer = better) 17% 23% 68th
How he hits Hits it to Pull most often, and does the most damage there too.
Best batted balls Where every ball Austin Hedges put in play landed this season. Dots are colored by estimated bases (EB) — pale slate (easy out) to dark teal (home-run territory). Filled dots are hits; hollow rings are outs — a dark ring in the outfield is a crushed ball that got caught.Hover a dot or a row to link the two; click to watch on Baseball Savant.
Contact & results 2026 · 103 balls in play What kind of contact he makes, and what it turns into. Top bar: his contact mix (grounders, liners, fly balls, pop-ups). Each sits over the thin league-average bar. Below, the rates he puts up — each dot is his mark, the dashed line league median, the teal tick league’s best. Further right is better. Hover or tab any bar or dot for exact values. Starred rows (*) are approximate.
OPS*
.707
lg .697 best 1.033
BABIP
.300
lg .286 best .491
* Approximate: sacrifice flies and bunts aren't distinguishable in our data, so every ball in play counts as an at-bat. Slightly off official figures.
Best games Best games His best games this season by estimated bases.
Trends Multi-season trends · Austin Hedges Seasons 2026 week by week
Trending up: overall production, contact · Trending down: power, walk rate
EB/PAi ▲ improving improving vs last season — Producing more per plate appearance than last season ↓ CSV Estimated bases per plate appearance — higher = more offensive value
HR%i ▼ declining declining vs last season — Hitting home runs less often than last season ↓ CSV Home runs per plate appearance — higher = more power
BB%i ▼ declining declining vs last season — Walking less often than last season ↓ CSV Walks per plate appearance — higher = more plate discipline
K%i ▲ improving improving vs last season — Striking out less than last season ↓ CSV Strikeouts per plate appearance — lower = better contact
