Hudgins attended
Mission Viejo High School prior to starring at Stanford University. In 2001 with Stanford, he went 1-5 with a 4.30 ERA. In 2002, he went 10-1 with a 4.71 ERA, and in 2003 he went 14-3 with a 2.99 ERA. After the 2002 season, he played
collegiate summer baseball with the
Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox of the
Cape Cod Baseball League, and was named a league all-star. Hudgins was drafted by the
Oakland Athletics in the 20th round of the
2000 MLB draft, however he did not sign. In the
2003 MLB draft, he was selected in the third round by the
Texas Rangers. He was signed by scout
Tim Fortugno, and began his professional career that year. Playing for the
Clinton LumberKings, he played in a single game in his debut professional season, striking out four batters in two innings. His professional career got rolling in 2004, as he split the season between the
Stockton Ports,
Oklahoma RedHawks and
Frisco RoughRiders. He appeared in 30 total games, starting 25 of them and going 8-5 with a 3.14 ERA. The following year, he played for the RedHawks and RoughRiders, going a combined 4-9 in 22 games (21 starts). His ERA jumped to 5.70. He began the 2006 season in the Rangers organization, playing for the RedHawks. However, he was traded with minor leaguer
Vince Sinisi to the
San Diego Padres for
Freddy Guzmán and minor leaguer Cesar Rojas on May 11. In his new organization, he played for the
Portland Beavers and
Mobile Bay Bears. He went a combined 6-5 with a 3.64 ERA in 2006. He played for the
Peoria Saguaros of the
Arizona Fall League in 2007 and in 2008 he played for the
AZL Padres, going 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two games. He split 2009 between the
San Antonio Missions and
Portland Beavers, going a combined 1-3 with a 4.33 ERA in 39 games. ==References==