This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Sometimes it’s the guy who throws 100 mph out of the bullpen who makes the biggest difference for a team. Sometimes it’s the guy who’s leading the league in RBIs. But sometimes, all a team needs is a guy in a crop-top T-shirt in the clubhouse.

At the start of the last homestand, Guardians backup catcher Austin Hedges walked into the clubhouse wearing a bright red, throwback style T-shirt designed with past Cleveland team logos. When most guys just wear regular gym clothes to get prepared for that night’s game, Hedges is always looking for ways to lighten the mood. So, instead of just keeping his shirt a typical T-shirt, he (or someone else) clearly took scissors and cut off the sleeves and the bottom six inches of the shirt, exposing his stomach as he casually perused the room.

Some people did double takes. Others just laughed. Most weren’t phased because, let’s face it, this is just who Hedges is. But after the Guardians won the first game of the six-game homestand, Hedges wore the crop-top every day after that. They still have yet to lose.

This is the definition of Hedges. He finds ways to make guys laugh. He does his best to make this a welcoming environment. He knows how to cut tension when it builds. He knows how to get everyone on the same page. And he isn’t afraid to embarrass himself to make this happen.

“Austin Hedges is the heart and soul of this team,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.

During this eight-game winning streak, different Guardians players have met with local media. So many of these victories have come after Cleveland was in a deficit or an opponent tried to crawl back into contention. When anyone is asked why this lineup has been so good at responding to adversity, everyone’s answer is the same: Hedges.

When the Guardians are down, Hedges is the first to start yelling in the dugout, predicting the comeback will happen that inning. He sets a tone among the group that’s, “We’re going to win this game,” instead of “Uh oh,” after the Guardians find themselves in a hefty deficit.

“It’s hard to quantify or put like a number on it because I think you see what he does on the field and just his game-calling, how he rallies the troops when he’s playing, when he’s not playing,” Guardians starter Triston McKenzie said. “But I think the intangibles are what he does in the clubhouse when you can’t see him, how he just keeps everybody alive, keeps everybody engaged. He’s a great leader for us and we love him.”

That prompted the question: Has Hedges always been so natural at being the leader in the room? Unsurprisingly, his answer was yes.

“My career has gone in a direction that I didn’t necessarily anticipate,” Hedges said. “Everybody wants to start their career and expects to be a 10-time All-Star, and just be the best version of yourself. And the reality of the matter is it just doesn’t always work out that way. For me, I love this game so much. I love being in the big leagues. I don’t take one day for granted. If I got to find a way to survive and to be here, I got to find a way to -- If I’m not going to be the guy doing it, I got to find a way to help other guys do it.

“I feel like it’s my role on this team to help guys learn from mistakes and learn how to have a strategy to respond to stay in the moment to stay in this game and to remember how much this game matters. … It’s just so cool to be with a group like this that responds well to it.”

Hedges’ unrelenting positivity and unmatched energy has been at the nucleus of Cleveland’s success this year. It’s not coincidental that the young team that turned everyone’s heads in 2022 by advancing to the second round of the playoffs had this man in the clubhouse, but in ’23, when the squad took a step back, Hedges was with other organizations.

There were a handful of things missing last year. But now that Hedges is back with the Guardians, it’s clear that his presence is irreplaceable…even if it means having his belly hang out the bottom of his cutoff shirt.

“You can’t quantify it. You can’t put a value on it,” Vogt said. “It’s invaluable what Austin means to us. Just the way he can bring a smile to everyone’s face even in the middle of a game is just what he does.”