Brooks Baldwin Shows Progress At Plate In Second Season With Chicago White Sox

CHICAGO –– All season, the White Sox have challenged Brooks Baldwin to balance his aggression and discipline at the plate.

“That’s a fine line, right? It’s in his DNA to be aggressive and you don’t want to take that away from him. At the same time, to be a successful big-league hitter, you have to control the zone,” manager Will Venable said way back on April 2.

“We’re seeing that a little bit and hoping that continues.”

During the first portion of the 24-year-old’s second Major League season, Baldwin struggled to find that happy medium. From Opening Day through May 18, he had a 26.8% strikeout rate while walking just 4.9% of the time and slashing .215/.257/.331.

So when Austin Slater was reinstated from the injured list in mid-May, the White Sox sent Baldwin down to Triple-A so he could get everyday at-bats and continue to play a variety of positions.

Immediately, he made Minor League pitchers look hopeless. Baldwin slashing .368/.427/.752 with 12 home runs in just 132 plate appearances with the Charlotte Knights was certainly a good sign. But perhaps most intriguing from a development standpoint was Baldwin’s 22-to12 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He still wasn’t walking at a high rate but he showed progress with just a 16.6% strikeout rate, in part due to the fact he was hitting the ball so much.

“Trying to be a little more patient,” Baldwin said in August. “Trying to get a little bit better pitches to hit while still being aggressive and still taking good swings at pitches in the zone.”

Since rejoining the White Sox, he’s best applied those principles of late.

Across 14 games and 46 plate appearances since July 27, Baldwin leads the team with a .346 batting average, a .413 on-base percentage and a 1.023 OPS. He’s second among White Sox, only behind Lenyn Sosa, with a .610 slugging percentage in that span. Baldwin's 10-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio during that stretch is a sign of development, too.

He's the only player in MLB this season to play five-plus games at six different positions.

“I like moving all over,” Baldwin said. “I like being able to play every position. I think it adds to the value of the team and just be wherever you’re needed for that day.”

Venable credited Baldwin’s recent success to better swing decisions in general, as they’ve seen less chase below the zone but still some above the zone. His chase rate is down 2% while increasing his zone contact percentage by 2.7%. Venable has also noticed Baldwin get the barrel out in front and minimize his move with two strikes.

Baldwin, a 12th round pick in 2022 out of UNC-Wilmington, said he’s always been a predominantly fastball hitter and that staying on that pitch has long been his approach. He acknowledged that when he gets off the fastball, it usually doesn’t go well. He hasn’t changed that approach –– hitting fastballs to left center and pulling offspeed pitches –– but he’s become more effective at the latter.

A recent at-bat displayed just that. On Aug. 9 against the Cleveland Guardians, he fell into an 0-2 count, looking at a fastball that barely clipped the high and outside corner and fouling off another in the zone. Guardians starter Tanner Bibee made a mistake with a changeup in the middle of the zone, and Baldwin punished it 380 feet for a solo home run, his second in as many games.

Baldwin said the following day that he knew Bibee liked to use his fastball at the top of the zone and work his changeup off of that, which is exactly what he saw in that at-bat. Anticipation is part of what has helped him be more productive.

“Just kind of having a better game plan going in, what pitches to be aggressive on and what pitches not to be,” Baldwin said. “It’s more preparing for the game instead of just getting up there and swinging.”

He has continued to make strides during the ongoing road trip. On Sunday in Kansas City, he recorded hits against three different pitches –– a changeup, slider and fastball. In Monday’s 13-9 win over the Braves, Baldwin took two pitches out of the zone, then crushed a 404-foot home run off Spencer Strider’s 2-2 fastball.

Brooks Baldwin sends one outta here! pic.twitter.com/hLOsWgM5Yy
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 19, 2025

There’s a balance for Baldwin to strike between using an aggressive approach to his advantage and being a more productive player overall by becoming more patient.

"Just making sure that the focus is on the right spots in the zone, making sure that he's not thinking too big,” Venable said. “You want to be aggressive, but you want to be aggressive to areas. You have that thought and mentality, and then put yourself in a position to be on time and see the baseball, you give yourself a really good chance. I think it can be as simple as that for Brooksy."

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