Drake Baldwin Takes Charge Of National League's Rookie Race

Forbes

21 hours ago

The consensus front-runner for National League Rookie of the Year sat alone on the visiting dugout bench before the rain-delayed game at CitiField Wednesday.
Drake Baldwin, a catcher, had the night off because the Mets were starting a left-handed pitcher, David Peterson, and Baldwin bats left-handed.
He laughed when a reported reminded him that Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox once benched left-handed slugger David Justice against left-handed pitchers but then played him every day after the Braves traded Dale Murphy to Philadelphia in midseason.
Playing every day, Justice not only proved he could hit lefties but hit them so well that he went on to win the 1990 NL rookie award.
Baldwin's bat could win him the same honor; he is the only rookie in the history of the Atlanta Braves to knock in five runs in a game twice (Rico Carty did it for the Milwaukee Braves in 1964, two years before the team moved south).
The last time came August 7, when Baldwin had three hits and two home runs against the Miami Marlins. It was the only multi-homer game he could recall.
'I was trying to hit another one,' admitted Baldwin, often deployed as the No. 3 hitter in the Atlanta lineup. 'It would have been nice.'
Instead, the young catcher collected an RBI single in his last at-bat.
Baldwin wore No. 75 as an unknown rookie during spring training but received No. 30 once the season opened.
The soft-spoken Wisconsin native, who hit his way onto the varsity roster with strong showings in the 2024 Arizona Fall League and 2025 spring training, opened the season in the starting lineup after veteran Sean Murphy was sidelined by a fractured rib cage.
The same injury later sidelined All-Star pitcher Chris Sale, who has impressed Baldwin whenever the rookie receiver was assigned to catch him.
'He knows what he's doing,' Baldwin said of Sale, the defending National League Cy Young Award winner.
Rated Atlanta's top prospect and No. 37 in the majors by Baseball Prospectus, Baldwin started play Wednesday with a .285 batting average, 13 home runs, a .470 slugging percentage, and an .823 OPS. He was tied with Javy Lopez for the second-most homers ever produced by an Atlanta catcher.
Baldwin has started 55 games behind the plate and 10 more as a designated hitter.
He is enjoying his best stretch since the calendar turned to August. This month, he's batting .324 with an .861 OPS with two home runs and 11 RBIs.
Baldwin's latest tear has been pulling ahead in the race for National League Rookie of the Year.
Earlier this week, writers at MLB.com rated the 6-0, 210-pound Wisconsin native the heavy favorite to win the rookie trophy. Others who got votes were Marlins catcher Agustin Ramirez, Brewers rookies Issac Collins, an outfielder, and Jacob Misirowski, a right-handed pitcher, plus Cubs right-hander Cade Horton.
Although Atlanta has toyed with the idea of keeping Baldwin's bat in the lineup every day, he's pretty much limited to catching or DH duties. That means either Sean Murphy, the other catcher, or Marcell Ozuna, the regular designated hitter, has to sit.
Even as an amateur, Baldwin was mainly a catcher, playing only a little at first base. And Atlanta's first baseman, Matt Olson, owns a streak of 740 consecutive games played, the longest active string in the game. Barring injury, he's not about to sit anytime soon.
Manager Brian Snitker, meanwhile, likes Baldwin as a backstop, even comparing him with Brian McCann, one of Atlanta's best catchers of recent vintage. Like Baldwin, McCann was a left-handed hitter with power.
Financially, Baldwin is a bargain for the Braves. He's earning the minimum of $760,000 and is under club control through the 2030 campaign, though he could win back a year of service time if he does win the rookie award.
If he keeps up his freshman performance, he could even to win a trip to next year's All-Star Game in Philadelphia.