The Pirates traded Hedges to the Rangers on Tuesday in exchange for international bonus pool money, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
Hedges had limped to a .180/.237/.230 slash line across 186 plate appearances with the Pirates. He'll presumably fill in as a depth piece at catcher behind Mitch Garver until Jonah Heim (wrist) returns from the injured list.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Headed for No. 2 role
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Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton confirmed Monday that Hedges is in line to serve as the Pirates' No. 2 catcher moving forward after Endy Rodriguez was promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com reports.
Though Rodriguez will ascend to the top of the depth chart following his call-up, Hedges won't be removed from the catching mix entirely. Shelton noted that he still expects Hedges to catch a couple of times per week, and the veteran is also likely to be deployed behind the dish on select occasions late in close games when defense is of greater importance. Hedges' skills as a pitch framer and game caller may be the only attributes keeping him on the Pittsburgh roster at this point; he's slashing a lowly .175/.226/.227 over 177 plate appearances on the season.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Not starting Saturday
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Hedges isn't in the Pirates' lineup Saturday against Arizona.
Hedges has started to turn things around since the start of July, going 4-for-12 at the plate with two RBI and a run scored over five games. He'll get a breather Saturday while Jason Delay starts behind the dish and bats ninth.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Sitting in series finale
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Hedges is not in Thursday's lineup against the Dodgers.
Hedges had started four consecutive games behind the dish, during which we went 3-for-10 with two RBI and a run scored. Jason Delay will take over at catcher and hit ninth.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Resting Wednesday
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Hedges is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Padres.
The Pirates' recent decision to promote top catching prospect Henry Davis hasn't affected Hedges, as the Bucs have instead elected to let the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 First-Year Player Draft get his feet wet in right field and at designated hitter in his first taste of the big leagues. As such, Hedges and Jason Delay have remained the Pirates' top options behind the plate, with the former garnering each of the last three starts at catcher. Hedges will give way to Delay on Thursday while the Pirates and Padres conclude their series with a day game after a night game.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Gets Saturday off
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Hedges isn't in the Pirates' lineup Saturday against the Marlins.
Hedges is 0-for-14 across his last seven games, so he'll get a day off Saturday as Pittsburgh looks for more production from the catcher position. Jason Delay will take over as the Pirates' catcher and bat ninth.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Day off Sunday
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Hedges is out of the lineup for Sunday's game at Milwaukee.
Hedges started the first two games of the series and will take a seat for Sunday's finale after going 0-for-5 with a strikeout. Jason Delay will step in behind the plate to catch for righty Luis Ortiz.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Smacks first homer
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Hedges went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Wednesday's loss to the Cubs.
Hedges took Drew Smyly deep in the fourth inning for his first home run of the year, extending Pittsburgh's lead to 5-1. The 30-year-old backstop has been relatively productive of late, going 7-for-27 (.259) with a .730 OPS over his last eight games. Still, Hedges isn't likely to provide much fantasy value outside of very deep leagues. He's slashing just .183/.240/.252 with 12 RBI and 10 runs scored through 131 plate appearances this season.
Hedges went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI on Friday against the Mets.
Hedges hit a ground-rule double to the opposite field in the second to drive in two, marking only his fifth extra-base hit of the season. He's been relatively productive by collecting five hits in 18 at-bats across his last five games, though he still has a dreadful .179 average for the season across 122 plate appearances. With both Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez currently playing at Triple-A Indianapolis, Hedges could also be at risk of losing playing time in the relatively near future.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Gets breather Wednesday
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Hedges is not in the starting lineup Wednesday versus the Athletics, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.
Hedges will take a seat after he went 1-for-7 with a run scored, a walk and two strikeouts while starting the first two games of the series with Oakland. Jason Delay will start at catcher and bat ninth in the series finale Wednesday.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Off Saturday
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Hedges isn't starting Saturday against the Cardinals, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.
Hedges has been less than impressive at the plate all season, and a .322 OPS across the past two weeks surely isn't helping. Jason Delay will take over behind the plate Saturday and bat ninth.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Gets Sunday off
Rotowire
Hedges is not in the starting lineup for Sunday's contest against the Diamondbacks.
Hedges will get a breather against Merrill Kelly and the Diamondbacks for Sunday's series finale. Jason Delay is starting behind the plate in Hedges' absence and will hit ninth.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: First multi-hit game
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Hedges went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI on Wednesday against the Tigers.
Hedges got the Pirates on the board with a two-RBI double in the second inning. He added a single in the seventh frame that drove in his third run of the day and also gave him his first multi-hit effort of the season. As that implies, Hedges has been dreadful at the plate early in the campaign, hitting .172/.264/.219 across 75 plate appearances.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: On bench Sunday
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Hedges is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.
He'll get a breather for the matinee game after he started at catcher in the first two games of the series with Toronto. Jason Delay will check in behind the dish Sunday, forming a battery with starting pitcher Roansy Contreras.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Sitting out Thursday
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Hedges is out of the lineup Thursday afternoon against the Rays, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.
Hedges gets a breather after making three straight starts behind the plate for the Pirates. Jason Delay is catching and batting ninth in Thursday's matinee.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Not starting Sunday
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Hedges is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Reds.
Hedges went 2-for-8 while starting the first three games of the series and will take a seat for Sunday's finale. Jason Delay will step in behind the plate and bat ninth.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Resting Wednesday
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Hedges is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rockies.
Hedges is getting a breather for the series finale after he started behind the plate each of the past three days while going 2-for-12 with a walk, a stolen base, two runs and two RBI. Jason Delay will form a battery with starting pitcher Johan Oviedo on Wednesday.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Activated off concussion IL
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Hedges was activated Friday from the 7-day concussion injured list.
Hedges is set to return to the Pirates on Friday in St. Louis after missing 10 days of action with a concussion. Tyler Heineman has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis in a corresponding move. Jason Delay will stay up to share time behind the plate with Hedges.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Catches bullpen
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Pirates manager Derek Shelton told reporters before Saturday's game that Hedges (concussion) caught a bullpen and will hit in the cage, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.
Shelton notes that Hedges is "trending in the right direction." The backstop is on the seven-day injured list while dealing with a concussion, and while he has made progress there's no timetable for his return.
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Pirates' Austin Hedges: Placed on concussion IL
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The Pirates placed Hedges on the 7-day concussion injured list Tuesday.
Hedges is without a timetable for a return, as brain injuries can be unpredictable. Tyler Heineman was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday to share time behind the plate with Jason Delay while Hedges is sidelined.
