Braves catcher Drake Baldwin got off to a strong start as a rookie in 2025. Then opposing pitchers adjusted. The positive results declined.
Baldwin said he started to wonder if maybe he wasn’t as good as he thought. Then he broke out of the slump and went on to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Now, he’s showing signs that his second MLB season could end up being even better than his first.
Baldwin continued his hot start with two hits, four RBIs and a run scored during the 5-1 victory over the Athletics at Truist Park. His two-run double in the fourth inning broke open a close game. Baldwin’s hard knock in the seventh inning might have been a homer if not for Denzel Clarke’s leaping catch at the wall.
Pitching is the No. 1 reason why the Braves (4-2) will carry a winning record into a seven-game trip that starts Thursday in Arizona. Baldwin’s offensive production is a close second.
Baldwin has hit three home runs in 26 plate appearances. The other Braves hitters have hit three homers in 189 PAs. Baldwin is 2-for-6 (.333) with runners in scoring position. His teammates are 9-for-35 (.257) in that situation. Baldwin has recorded seven of his team’s 24 RBIs.
You get the picture. Baldwin is carrying the lineup so far.
“I think it’s kind of keep it simple and not overcomplicate it too much,” he said. “Just look for a pitch over the plate and try to put your best swing on it, and if you do that as consistently as you can, you will hopefully have results”
Baldwin makes it sound easy when it’s obviously not.
“He’s a special hitter,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “It’s one of those swings that there is a lot of margin for error because it’s in the (strike) zone for so long. It’s line-to-line. It’s high contact with power.
“ … He’s just one of those special hitters and, this early in his career, it’s amazing what’s out in front of this kid.”
There were high expectations for Baldwin as a rookie. He was ranked as a consensus top 100 prospect in MLB before the year. Baldwin got his shot in the big leagues because of a strong showing in spring training and an injury to incumbent catcher Sean Murphy.
It didn’t take long for Baldwin to show he belonged in MLB. The big rookie season created more expectations for Baldwin. He said he learned how to deal with it by watching how teammates Chris Sale, Ronald Acuña and Michael Harris III went about their business after earning accolades.
“Still doing your routine and take it day-by-day instead of trying to look forward to the end of the season and be like, ‘Oh, I need those numbers,’” Baldwin said. “There are going to be ups and downs no matter what. It’s just trying to be as consistent as possible.”
Baldwin is doing that so far in his young MLB career.
Last season, Baldwin ranked second to Matt Olson in on-base plus slugging percentage last season among Braves regulars who played at least 100 games. Baldwin’s 23 home runs since the start of 2025 are second to Hunter Goodman among NL catchers. He became the first primary Braves catcher of the modern era to homer three times in his first five games.
Baldwin nearly made it four homers in six games. His shot in the seventh inning traveled 401 feet to the wall in left center. Clarke kept in the ballpark.
“He made it look way too easy,” Baldwin said. “I thought I hit it pretty well and it looked like he was just walking over there, and he just caught it over the fence.”
That’s about the only thing that hasn’t gone Baldwin’s way through the season’s first six games. Braves left-hander Chris Sale even credited Baldwin for helping him get through six innings while feeling ill.
Sale’s fastball velocity was slower than usual early in the game, so Baldwin called for a heavy dose of change-ups.
“I think that’s called having a pretty good damn catcher back there,” Sale said. “(The fastball) just didn’t have that kind of extra hop to it today. I think ‘Baldy’ noticed that early on and used to that to our advantage.
“He wasn’t trying to force anything. He saw that we were going to have to navigate through this lineup a little bit differently than we have in the past. I even told him, ‘Hey, I know today wasn’t easy for you to get me through that, so, hell of a job.”
Said Baldwin: “I’m going to give a lot of credit to him. I didn’t do too much for that. When he steps between the lines, he’s locked in.”
That’s true. But Braves pitchers have praised Baldwin for his work calling games. Murphy is much better defensively, but Baldwin is learning.
Murphy (hip) began this season on the injured list. He’s on track to begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment on April 8. The Braves hope he’ll return to health this season and regain his form.
If that doesn’t happen, then the Braves are already covered at catcher. All signs point to Baldwin being as good as he and everyone else believes.
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