The Padres played a prank on Austin Hedges before calling him up.
The Padres played a prank on Austin Hedges before calling him up. (USATSI)

Earlier this week the Padres shook up their catching tandem by calling up top prospect Austin Hedges, who will split time with Derek Norris. Despite a .914 OPS in 21 Triple-A games this year, Hedges' calling card is his elite defense.

The Padres made the decison to call the 22-year-old Hedges up on Sunday, then relayed the news to his manager in Triple-A. The coaching staff decided to play a little prank on Hedges before letting him know he was going to the show. MLB.com's Corey Brock has the details:

"(Athletic trainer Nate Stewart) came up and asked if I got into trouble last night," said Hedges, who was preparing for a round of trivia hosted by teammate Cody Decker when Stewart approached him. "I told him I was asleep. Then I saw [manager Pat Murphy] outside talking to some guys I'd never seen.

"They ended up coming on the bus, saying we heard some people saying things, 'Did you get in trouble.' I was looking for my roommate [James Needy] to vouch for me. Then they said, 'We're going to need you to get off the bus.' But before we got off, they said, 'We're just kidding.'"

It's not Kyle Kendrick getting traded to Japan, but geez, there's nothing worse than the "what did you do!?" question when you don't even realize you did anything wrong. Hedges admitted he was shook up before getting over it. Being called up to MLB has a way of making everything feel all better.

"It was a whirlwind of emotions," said Hedges, ranked as the Padres' No. 2 prospect by MLB.com. "I was rattled from that, then the news [of promotion], it took me awhile. That's something, obviously, I'll never forget."

As if that cruel joke wasn't enough, Hedges made his MLB debut as a pinch-hitter against Madison Bumgarner on Monday night. Bumgarner struck him out on four pitches. Welcome to the bigs, kid.