Braves Drake Baldwin Proving Second Act is Better Than His Last

If you've been a sports fan for any significant amount of time, you've probably heard the term "sophomore slump". Well, apparently Drake Baldwin hasn't. The second-year Atlanta Braves catcher is putting together a season that matches – and in many ways exceeds – his Rookie of the Year campaign.

With 22 games to go in the regular season, Baldwin is hitting .276 with 22 home runs, 69 RBIs and an .807 OPS. He has already set career highs in several areas, including runs (74), hits (127), homers and walks (50). He is also on pace to set higher marks in all of the slash-line categories. Before missing a month earlier in the season with a right oblique strain, Baldwin was even garnering attention as a possible NL MVP candidate. At the time of his injury, he was hitting .303/.389/.543.

Immediately upon returning to the lineup for Atlanta, Baldwin hit a snag for a little while. He struggled out of the gate, bottoming out with a .063 average through the final 12 games in June, managing just three hits. His batting average for the season dropped from .303 to as low as .247 on July 4.

That certainly could have been a sign of a sophomore slump for Drake Baldwin, but he managed to figure it out and get things going again. Since July 5, Baldwin has hit .316 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs, clawing his season average back up to .276.

Drake Baldin also earned another career milestone in 2026, not only getting his first career All-Star Game nod, but also becoming the first Braves catcher to start the Midsummer Classic since his teammate Sean Murphy did it in 2023.

After homering in his first at-bat back from injury, Braves manager Walt Weiss said Baldwin was “built different”, and he certainly is. He ranks in the 90th percentile of Major League Baseball or better in Expected Weighted On-Base Average (a metric that measures the quality of a player’s contact), Expected Slugging, and Hard Hit percentage, according to Baseball Savant.

Those numbers may be a bit complex, so let’s take a more standard view of his season. Baldwin is second among National League catchers in batting average, hits, home runs and total bases despite missing a month.

Drake Baldwin’s journey from Missouri State to the big leagues has proven to be smoother than many expected and he’s shown no sign of slowing down. The sophomore slump that affects so many young athletes as the level of competition adjusts to them, tried to come for Drake Baldwin and he fought through it. To follow-up a Rookie of the Year campaign with an All-Star encore of equal or greater statistical value in year two is a special feat that tells me one thing – Baldwin is on his way to being a bona fide MLB superstar.

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