Braves Stars Reflect on Challenges of Rookie of the Year Seasons

It's an award to be proud of winning, but the Atlanta Braves player who have won the award know the challenges that come with the push

Winning the award, in a way, requires playing the season where you don't aim to win it | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Braves have had their share of Rookie of the Year winners over the past few years. Three previous winners who won it as a Brave are now teammates: Drake Baldwin, Michael Harris and Ronald Acuña Jr. 

Baldwin is coming off winning the award in November, capping off a season that saw him prove he could be a clutch bat in the major leagues. In a way, it was helpful being around those with the experience he was pushing to gain. 

“I mean, it was definitely to be around people who have done the same things as well,” Baldwin said during an interview at Braves Fest Gala. “You watch how they go about their day, take everything in and you kind of learn from that.” 

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Even his manager, Walt Weiss, won the award back in 1988. Having those who have been there before can serve as a guide for navigating the season. It also helps a ballplayer from getting caught up in it. That’s a non-option. 

“It’s hard to say it wasn’t on my radar,” he said. “You definitely see all the stuff, whether it be social media or just hearing interviews and stuff like that. But baseball is such a tough game; obviously, you’re going to have that end goal, but trying to press every single day, it never really works out.”

The best he felt he could do was take it day by day and enjoy it all. That mindset, he felt, got him to the level of success that he had during his rookie season. 

When you think about it that much further, he’s not just taking on the pressure of being a rookie of the year candidate. He also had the pressure of being thrust into the opening day starting catcher role. There were already rising expectations because of the hype building in the minor leagues over the previous season and offseason. 

He stayed poised throughout it all, and it all culminated in an award-winning first chapter of his major league career. It takes a certain level of mental toughness. 

His fellow Rookie of the Year award winners, Acuña and Harris, agreed that you don’t get to think about it. You have other goals you could be trying to balance as the noise starts to come in. 

“When I won mine, I was in Double-A that year,” Harris said in an interview at Braves Fest Gala. “So, I was just trying to make it out of Double-A up to Triple-A, and luckily, I was able to skip Triple-A. Like he said, you don’t, kind of, reach for that. It’s hard not to hear about it. When you walk in the clubhouse, MLB Network is on already.” 

What helps is knowing you’re in the conversation, Harris added. In a way, it allows you to just let you do what you’re doing. After all, the work to potentially win it is already being put in. 

Pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 9. Baldwin is tasked with following up on his first season as the presumed starting catcher out of the gate. Sean Murphy is out again for opening day. Perhaps that experience from last year, being there before, will help get the follow-up off to a good start.