PITTSBURGH -- The greatest play within the Pirates’ 2-1 win over the Reds on Saturday evening at PNC Park wasn’t a swing of the bat. It wasn’t a defensive spotlight or an enormous strikeout. It wasn’t actually even a play. What it was, nevertheless, was the newest exhibition of the intangible worth Austin Hedges, the veteran backstop with 9 seasons below his belt, continues to offer.

“It’s why we targeted him,” stated supervisor Derek Shelton following the membership’s sixth consecutive win. “It’s why he’s so important, because there’s a lot of things that he does that you can’t measure.”

In the third inning, Rich Hill misplaced the strike zone. He walked Spencer Steer and Stuart Fairchild on eight straight pitches. When Hill opened Tyler Stephenson’s at-bat with a curveball that missed the zone, Hedges popped out of his squat and held court docket along with his starter.

Hedges seen that Hill’s curveball was breaking properly however wasn’t beginning in the correct spot. After sharing that perception, the catcher adjourned the fast assembly and the battery bought again to work. From there, Hill locked in.

The lefty rebounded from the first-pitch ball to strike Stephenson out on 5 pitches. He fanned Wil Myers on three pitches, then bought Kevin Newman to floor right into a forceout to finish the inning. After throwing one strike and 9 consecutive balls to start the body, Hill threw 9 of his subsequent 10 pitches for strikes and escaped the inning unscathed.

Hill couldn’t lengthen the rotation’s streak of high quality begins to 12, pitching solely 5 innings of one-run ball, however Hedges’ phrases of knowledge helped make sure that the lefty’s evening didn’t finish proper then and there within the third.

“The mound visit by Austin was huge, just being able to pick out a few things that he saw, and it clicked with me,” Hill stated. “It was perfect timing for it. He did an incredible job tonight behind the dish.”

For Hedges, the mound go to was the second time in as many video games that he contributed to a win in an unquantifiable method. In Friday’s 4-2 win, Hedges contributed to the victory in an excellent much less apparent method than Saturday’s mound go to.

During the eighth inning of that recreation, David Bednar started to get free to close the door on the Reds, however resulting from some environment friendly pitching by Cincinnati reliever Reiver Sanmartin, Bednar gave the impression to be in a time crunch. With Hedges within the gap, Sanmartin retired Mark Mathias on simply two pitches through groundout, then bought Rodolfo Castro to harmlessly fly out on one pitch.

Hedges knew his nearer wanted extra time to organize, so he pulled a veteran transfer. The backstop slowly approached the plate, dug his proper foot into the batter’s field a pair occasions, took a deep breath and known as timeout. He exited the batter’s field, made fake changes to his excessive socks à la Nomar Garciaparra, then stepped again in for his plate look.

The Reds’ broadcast staff joked that Hedges instantly took the timeout so he may hearken to his walk-up tune, however his true intent was clear: give Bednar extra time. Along along with his strategic use of the timeout, Hedges labored six pitches out of Sanmartin earlier than lining out to second to finish the body. In complete, Hedges offered his nearer with an additional two minutes to get free. The additional time appeared to assist as Bednar proceeded to document his MLB-leading seventh save on eight pitches.

“For him to have that presence of mind and that game-awareness to know, ‘OK, those were two pretty quick ones, I’ll give him a bit more time to warm up,’ is huge,” Bednar stated. “It’s one of the many things that he brings to the table and why he’s such a great addition for us.”

Added Hill, “That speaks to experience. That's something that doesn't show up on the back of your baseball card, so to speak. Having that feel and having that innate ability to be able to call timeout and understand the cadence of the game, what the situation is and what is needed in that moment, he certainly provides that for us.”

Hedges’ worth to the Pirates isn’t fully unquantifiable. Entering Saturday, Hedges ranked within the 96th percentile for catcher framing and tied for fifth amongst all catchers with two defensive runs saved throughout 79 2/3 innings. With a sacrifice bunt within the third inning, he’s tied for the league lead with three. But on Friday and Saturday evening, Hedges confirmed the savvy, sneaky methods by which he can have an effect on ballgames and, in the end, contribute to wins.

Content Source: www.mlb.com