He calls himself a psycho. Teammates call him loud, crazy and a leader

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- ¡°I believe all baseball players need to check one of three boxes. You have to be either a psycho, a sicko or a degenerate. ¡­ I just so happen to check all three of them.¡±

Austin Hedges sat sideways in the folding chair that¡¯s perched in front of his corner locker, nonchalantly spewing his usual ridiculousness in such a matter-of-fact manner that it makes you believe this should be as common knowledge as the sky being blue.

It was all spurred by one simple question: How would you best describe yourself?

As he took a second to process the question, additional context was given. His teammates and coaches each did their best to define the ineffable personality of their beloved backup catcher during the first few weeks of camp. He let out a laugh and played along.

¡°This game is too hard,¡± he explained, ¡°and there¡¯s too many dudes out there that probably want it more than you. So you just got to be a sicko, a psycho or a degenerate in some way, one way or another in order to just match that dude that¡¯s trying to take money out of your pocket.¡±

Hedges then expressed a nervous excitement to hear what everyone else in the room had said about him. He¡¯s the man you can hear on Field 1 clear as day if he¡¯s on Field 8 (they¡¯re probably two football fields apart). He¡¯s the guy trash-talking Emmanuel Clase in live batting practice. He¡¯s the only person bouncing off the walls at 7 a.m. before workouts. He had no idea what route his friends would take to best describe what all of those antics equate to.

Before thoughts could even be formed, each person who was asked the question took a second to process what they had been asked and immediately let out a big laugh. Then, they blurted out the first words that came to mind.

Hitting coach Chris Valaika: ¡°God, that¡¯s a big question. He¡¯s a beauty.¡±

Sam Hentges: ¡°He¡¯s like a human alarm clock.¡±

Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez: ¡°How we say it in the Dominican Republic, he¡¯s a good, crazy guy.¡±

Joey Cantillo: ¡°Wild. His nickname¡¯s Hog, right?¡±

Will Brennan: ¡°In one word? Exuberant. Leader. Over the top. But he¡¯s getting the most out of you. He probably needs to calm down. But he never will. We love him for it.¡±

Bo Naylor: ¡°Loud. I think a lot of people would agree on that.¡±

Even Hedges agrees on that: ¡°Volume control is at an all-time low for me right now. No volume awareness.¡±

Bench coach Craig Albernaz: ¡°He is charismatic, I would say. That¡¯s probably the PG way of saying it.¡±

Logan Allen: ¡°Oh man ¡­ He¡¯s just like a ball of energy.¡±

Steven Kwan: ¡°A lot. I¡¯d say it¡¯s a lot. Random. Loud. A lot. Those are the top three. Fourth would probably be loving, but I feel like you got to really prep somebody to know you¡¯re just going to hear a lot of stuff from him.¡±

Myles Straw: ¡°Partier. Energetic. Happy. Positive. Helpful.¡±

First base and catching coach Sandy Alomar Jr.: ¡°He¡¯s like an electric car, gas car, V12 [engine], all the above. This guy¡¯s like super energetic.¡±

Emmanuel Clase: ¡°He¡¯s a crazy guy, right?¡±

Shane Bieber: ¡°An enigma, because you can¡¯t describe him.¡±

Triston McKenzie: ¡°He¡¯s a giant ball of positive energy. ¡­ On a lot of Red Bull probably.¡±

Scott Barlow: ¡°Definitely outgoing for sure. He¡¯s not afraid to come up to you and introduce himself. He¡¯s just him all the time.¡±

Manager Stephen Vogt: ¡°I think they posted the picture [that best describes him] right when we signed him with his shirt off celebrating.¡±

Tanner Bibee: ¡°Positive energy. ... Putting it lightly, definitely. I¡¯m trying to shorten it.¡±

Josh Naylor: ¡°He is a character in itself. He¡¯s unbelievable.¡±

David Fry: ¡°Energetic. Just one word. ¡­ Like yesterday, he was like, ¡®I might need you to pick me up. I¡¯m not all there today.¡¯ I was like, ¡®All right.¡¯ Then during live BPs, the coaches were like, ¡®Is he always like that? Like that high energy?¡¯ I was like, ¡®He said he was down today. It¡¯s a bad day.¡¯¡±

Here¡¯s the thing about Hedges: The initial description of him will always focus on the insanity. But each person who was asked about him immediately diverted the conversation to be about the tremendous impact he makes on this roster.

Albernaz: ¡°He¡¯s never a catcher that¡¯s quiet back there. He¡¯s always giving pitchers feedback. So that personality is going to be really great for Bo but is also going to be great for the clubhouse and a young manager like Vogty as well, someone to lean on with that veteran presence.¡±

Tyler Freeman: ¡°The guy, having his presence back on our team, there¡¯s no one better from a leader standpoint. He¡¯s going to hold everyone accountable, he¡¯s going to make sure everyone works extremely hard and that¡¯s just the type of guy he is. He¡¯s going to make everyone better.¡±

Bo Naylor: ¡°He¡¯s someone that takes his craft very seriously and wants the best for all of us. While he¡¯s very vocal about it, he¡¯s someone that this team looks to for that type of guidance.¡±

Clase: ¡°That craziness brings a lot of positiveness to the camp and regardless of the results of the play or what he¡¯s doing, he¡¯s always a positive person for us.¡±

Valaika: ¡°I think his leadership qualities and just how much of an extravert he is just bleeds into everything he does. It might not look the prettiest at times, but he¡¯s a guy they gravitate towards. They listen to him. He¡¯s never had a bad day. ¡­ As a baseball player, I¡¯d say he¡¯s one of the ultimate leaders I¡¯ve been around.¡±

Josh Naylor: ¡°He¡¯s a great teammate, a great friend, he provides a lot, very knowledgeable, he loves to have fun, loves to talk his crap. You kind of got to be able to talk crap back to him then he¡¯ll go calm down a little bit. But he¡¯s an awesome person to have around. His energy is infectious. He wants to be here. He wants to win. He wants to have fun. He also wants to learn and grow every day.¡±

Trevor Stephan: ¡°I feel like he¡¯s just a leader. ¡­ He¡¯s really good at communicating different styles and getting the best out of the pitching staffs. He¡¯s helpful a lot.¡±

Eli Morgan: ¡°He¡¯s loud and confident, and I¡¯m sure that could rub people the wrong way, but it¡¯s much needed in a young clubhouse.¡±

Allen: ¡°He¡¯s like the guy that brings everybody together.¡±

Vogt: ¡°He¡¯s going to be huge for these young players on the roster and this young pitching staff that we have. He¡¯s a pro. That¡¯s the highest compliment you can receive as a baseball player -- when somebody looks at you and says that guy¡¯s a pro. And Austin Hedges is a pro.¡±

Straw: ¡°He¡¯s been around for a long time now, so he can definitely help the youth we have, especially for the catcher position. So I think he¡¯s a good sign for us this year, for sure.¡±

Alomar: ¡°I feel like he¡¯s a super-positive guy. He can be 0-for-10, 0-for-20, 0-for-30, and you don¡¯t even know he¡¯s not hitting because he¡¯s going to lead to drive that pitcher through the game and make everybody feel good in the game.¡±

Cantillo: ¡°His knowledge behind the plate and the way he sees the game, what he¡¯s seeing, the way he¡¯s reading hitters, every time he says something to me I feel like I¡¯m learning. It¡¯s a new thing that I have never even thought about.¡±

Hedges relaxed in his chair, happy to know that after all the absurdity in each answer, the reason he carries himself the way he does was clear to the rest of his teammates. And just like how this conversation started, Hedges explained it in his own words: the only way Hedges knows how.

¡°I tend to be positive,¡± he said, ¡°but I also try to be very mean to people, sometimes on purpose. Just to challenge them a little bit. And then sprinkle in like a compliment sandwich. Like insult, compliment, insult. Or compliment, insult, compliment. It depends on what type of sandwich that person needs for that day.¡±

Hedges¡¯ one-of-a-kind presence was desperately missed in 2023. The Guardians wanted to get him back into this clubhouse and he was one of the only offseason moves the team made. It wasn¡¯t the flashiest signing. It¡¯s not going to be the offensive answer they¡¯ve been looking for. But he¡¯s doing more behind the scenes than anyone realizes.

¡°I think he¡¯s almost the last puzzle piece,¡± Hentges said. ¡°I think for us, I feel like he completes the team in the sense that he¡¯s a leader, he¡¯s a veteran, he¡¯s done this before, he¡¯s fun, he¡¯s energetic, he brings a lot to a team in the clubhouse and a lot of people don¡¯t see that.¡±