Braves' Drake Baldwin: Remains hot with homer Saturday
Rotowire
Baldwin went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run against Boston in a loss Saturday.
Baldwin hit one of three Atlanta homers off Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito, slugging a 416-foot two-run shot in the third inning. The rookie catcher has been scorching at the plate of late -- over his past four games, he's batting a sizzling .625 (10-for-16) with two home runs and five RBI. Baldwin's hot stretch extends even further -- through 11 games in May, he's batting .556 (15-for-27) with three long balls and eight RBI. His performance has led to Baldwin moving into a timeshare with Sean Murphy behind the plate, as the pair has alternated starts for Atlanta's past eight games.
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Braves' Drake Baldwin: Playing time on upswing
Rotowire
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said Baldwin will start behind the plate Thursday against the Nationals and could see more playing time moving forward, David O'Brien of the Athletic reports.
In his most recent start in Tuesday's 5-2 win over Washington, Baldwin went 3-for-4 with his fourth home run of the season. Sean Murphy will get the nod behind the plate Wednesday, but as long as he's contributing with his bat, the rookie backstop should continue to see an equal share of the workload against right-handed pitching, although he has yet to get a start against a lefty. Through his first 25 big-league games, Baldwin is slashing .329/.382/.557 with a 6:13 BB:K.
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Braves' Drake Baldwin: Big day at plate
Rotowire
Baldwin went 3-for-4 with a double, a two-run home run and two additional runs scored in Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Nationals.
Starting at catcher and batting fifth, Baldwin got Atlanta on the board by taking Michael Soroka deep in the fourth inning. The rookie is muscling his way into a timeshare behind the plate with Sean Murphy, and so far in May, Baldwin's batting .556 (10-for-18) with two doubles, two homers, four runs and five RBI.
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Braves' Drake Baldwin: Sitting Wednesday
Rotowire
Baldwin is not in Atlanta's starting lineup against the Dodgers on Wednesday.
The lefty-hitting Baldwin started in Atlanta's last two games, but he'll rest Wednesday as the Dodgers send southpaw Blake Snell to the mound. Chadwick Tromp will serve behind home plate and bat eighth.
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Braves' Drake Baldwin: Getting night off
Rotowire
Baldwin is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Padres.
Baldwin will rest up after he started at catcher in each of Atlanta's first three games while going 1-for-11 with a walk. Chadwick Tromp will step in behind the dish for the finale in San Diego.
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Braves' Drake Baldwin: Hitless in debut
Rotowire
Baldwin went 0-for-3 with a walk in Thursday's loss to the Padres.
Making his big-league debut, Baldwin guided Chris Sale to seven strikeouts in five innings but didn't make an impact at the plate. The 24-year-old catcher is expected to start for Atlanta as long as Sean Murphy (ribs) is sidelined, giving Baldwin at least a few weeks to prove he deserves to stick around on the 26-man roster.
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Braves' Drake Baldwin: Cracks Opening Day roster
Rotowire
Atlanta selected Baldwin's contract from Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday.
The news does not come as a surprise, as it's been pretty clear Atlanta was planning for Baldwin to be its primary catcher while Sean Murphy (rib) is sidelined. Murphy is expected to miss at least the first couple weeks of the season, although there's no clear target date for his return yet. Baldwin has batted .313 (10-for-32) with a 2:7 K:BB this spring after posting a .276/.370/.423 slash line with 18 home runs between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett in 2024. He could be optioned to Gwinnett once Murphy is ready but will have an opportunity to show he deserves to stick around.
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Braves' Drake Baldwin: Recovered from allergic reaction
Rotowire
Baldwin is fine Friday after being scratched from Wednesday's Grapefruit League lineup due to an allergic reaction, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.
The 23-year-old had an accidental exposure to walnuts but has since recovered from the allergic reaction. Baldwin is Atlanta's top prospect and has yet to make his MLB debut, but that could change soon with No. 1 backstop Sean Murphy (rib) set to begin the season on the injured list. Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution projects Baldwin to be the team's Opening Day starter behind the plate.
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Braves' Drake Baldwin: Nets invite to spring training
Rotowire
Atlanta has extended Baldwin an invitation to big-league camp during spring training.
Baldwin slashed .276/.370/.423 with 18 home runs between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett in 2024 and is viewed by most as the club's top prospect. While Sean Murphy should have a clear placement at the top of the catcher depth chart in Atlanta heading into the 2025 season, the absence of Travis d'Arnaud gives Baldwin a clearer path to debut sooner rather than later.
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Braves' Drake Baldwin: In control at Triple-A
Rotowire
Baldwin is slashing .297/.412/.479 with 11 home runs and more walks (47) than strikeouts (45) in 62 games for Triple-A Gwinnett.
Baldwin's 31.2 percent hard-hit rate, 80 percent contact rate and 15.6 percent strikeout rate are all high-end marks for an upper-level catching prospect. Atlanta has an $8 million club option on Travis d'Arnaud for 2025, while Sean Murphy is locked up long term, so it's unclear how large Baldwin's role will be in 2025.
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Braves' Drake Baldwin: Shifted to minors camp
Rotowire
Baldwin was reassigned to Atlanta's minor-league camp Tuesday.
The 2022 third-round draft selection slashed .247/.396/.284 across 101 plate appearances last season. The 21-year-old backstop will likely remain in Single-A to begin 2023.
