Guardians catcher is officially Tarik Skubal's nightmare and Twitter roasted him

On Tuesday, Tarik Skubal dominated the Cleveland Guardians lineup in Detroit’s Game 1 in the Wild Card Series. 

Well, he dominated most of the lineup. 

Skubal racked up strikeout after strikeout against the Guardians and did a great job limiting baserunners all afternoon. But, for whatever reason, he couldn’t get that to carry over to the bottom of the Guardians’ lineup, as catcher Austin Hedges worked two walks off Skubal, making him the only Guardians to reach base twice against Skubal. 

That right, a hitter with a career .185 batting average accounted for 33% of the Guardians baserunners against the presumptive Cy Young winner. 

For whatever reason, Tarik Skubal wants no part of Austin Hedges

While Hedges also had a three-pitch strikeout against Skubal, he worked a four-pitch walk against Skubal in his first at-bat before working a six-pitch walk in the eighth inning before being pulled for a pinch-runner. 

And, funnily, enough, Hedges has been able to hold his own against Skubal. He entered Tuesday’s game with a career .235 average against Skubal, which is the second-highest batting average against Skubal on the Guardians’ roster behind José Ramírez (.375). 

But Hedges’ big value against Skubal is his patience, as he’s now worked three walks off Skubal this year. Skubal’s only allowed 36 walks this year, which means that Hedges has drawn nearly 9% of the walks that Skubal allowed this year. 

Last year, Hedges needed 14 postgame at-bats to generate two walks. This year, he’s already reached that number in one game — off the greatest pitcher in baseball, no less. 

While Hedges turning into a weapon of mass production against Skubal is a great sign, the rest of the Guardians offense is going to need to step up if they want to extend their season past today. 

The Tigers are rolling with Casey Mize on the mound, while the Guardians are going with Tanner Bibee. Mize has thrown 21 career innings against the Guardians, and there are five Guardians who have a career batting average of .300 or better against Mize. 

While Hedges likely won’t be in the Guardians’ lineup today since Mize is right handed, Hedges could still enter games at a defensive substitute after Bo Naylor is pinch-hit for.

Even if Hedges is one the best defensive catchers in baseball and has developed a reputation as a manager-in-waiting, his major league legacy will not be based off what he did in the batter’s box. 

Unless he’s facing off Skubal.