Baldwin discussed his rise from third-round pick to becoming Atlanta’s top prospect.
Despite no longer ranking among the top farm systems in the game, the Atlanta Braves continue to produce prospects with significant upside on a regular basis. Many of those players have become important cogs in the machine on a perennial postseason contender.
Talented catcher Drake Baldwin may very well be the next in line.
Baldwin, 23, ascended to Triple-A in 2024, a memorable season for the left-handed hitting backstop. His production with the Gwinnett Stripers and an appearance in the Futures Game highlighted a breakthrough performance which not only placed him firmly on Atlanta’s radar but generated significant prospect buzz across the game.
A third-round draft selection by the Braves in 2022 out of Missouri State, Baldwin has demonstrated an advanced approach at the plate at every level along the way but showcased premium power to go with that selective eye upon reaching Gwinnett to stay last summer.
After a brief three-game stopover in Triple-A in 2023, Baldwin slugged 12 home runs and posted an .891 OPS in 72 games for the Stripers last season. He even added a homer in the Futures Game as part of the Major League Baseball All-Star festivities at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Baldwin’s star was definitely on the rise and by the time his 2024 campaign was done, he set career highs with a .276 average, 129 hits, 88 RBIs, and 72 walks in 124 games between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett.
That production helped Baldwin rocket up the prospect lists as well. He entered 2025 as the No. 63 prospect in the game according to MLB.com, No. 53 on Baseball America’s overall list, and earned the No. 37 ranking from Baseball Prospectus.
On many clubs, Baldwin would be in camp looking to win a starting job. But with incumbent catcher Sean Murphy in the third season of a six-year deal, there is no clear path to playing time for Baldwin at the moment. Despite being blocked by an All-Star, Baldwin is in Braves camp with a chance to impress the big league team and show them he is just a phone call away if and when needed.
I caught up with Baldwin to discuss his rise through the Atlanta system, the breakout 2024 season, and the opportunity awaiting him this year.
GM: You’re no stranger to big league camp or Spring Training, obviously, but this one seems like it may feel a little bit different. What has the last year been like for you and how excited are you to come in and be a part of this?
DB: “The last year was awesome, going from Double-A to Triple-A and being able to spend a ton of time with guys who have service time, All-Stars, I mean a little bit of everything. That Gwinnett team is pretty great. Getting to be a part of that, I was learning new routines, learning new ways, and just trying to make myself better every day. Obviously, playing in the Futures Game was a huge step. That was a super cool experience for me, being in a big league atmosphere. I don’t know exactly what the big leagues are like by any means, but I feel like I got a foot in the door with learning about how to deal with media and everything else. The pregame stuff, the postgame stuff, eating there, everything, it definitely added a little bit of an incentive to just keep on working hard and doing everything I can to hopefully make it there.”
GM: Yeah, a little peek inside the game. You start your career and the stadiums only get bigger from there. You also had a pretty cool moment in that Futures Game. That had to be surreal, rounding the bases after that home run, right?
DB: “It was pretty crazy. Honestly, I kind of blacked out. After I hit it, I didn’t really know what happened until after I got back in the dugout. But I know how cool it was and I had some family and friends there as well to cheer me on. To be able to share that moment with them is really special.”
GM: A really cool experience and a great highlight inside of a big season for you. It looked like, as you went from Double-A to Triple-A, something got unlocked there. The numbers were very good, so I’d imagine you felt in the zone there at the plate as well. What’s the progression been like year over year, level to level and enjoying the success you had at Triple-A?
DB: “Gwinnett is a little nicer park to hit in than Mississippi. There are some tough times in Mississippi where you can do all the right things and still get out there, like any park in baseball. But I got the confidence from going up a level and trying to carry on what I’ve been doing with the same routines. Then you’re in the cage with people like Sandy Leon, Yuli Gurriel, and Brian Anderson, all these guys who have played in the big leagues for a long time. You see what they do and you just try to find ways to replicate it and see how I can get better. Just going out there every day and seeing how hard they work and how locked in they are for the games, I think that helped me focus for every game and really see how important every at-bat is and just carry that on. That coaching staff there is incredible with development and making you feel good. They just kind of understand the daily grind of what a baseball player goes through.”
GM: There’s a lot of individual effort that goes into this team sport that is baseball and we talk a lot about what you can learn from those older players. Just how invaluable is it to have guys with experience in the big leagues that can show you a little bit about maybe slowing the game down in some cases, or just how things work at a level in which you haven’t gotten the chance to get there, see if for yourself and experience yet?
DB: “Playing with them, just like after an inning and say I’m catching, I’ll ask Sandy (Leon) a question – or even Chadwick Tromp. We had Ryan Casteel, who’s played a long time as well. I just ask them questions and see what their opinions on everything are, just trying to learn. Catching guys like Bryce Elder and Ian Anderson, an All-Star and a guy who pitched in the World Series, and Dylan Lee, who came down for a little bit. You catch those guys and just pick their brains on what works for them and how, as a catcher, I can make their lives easier and help them be the best they can be.”
GM: We’ve talked some about at the plate, but let’s go behind the plate for you. As you go into each and every year, I know you take a lot of pride in your craft and the Braves obviously value that quite a bit, the ability to handle the staff and the day-to-day of the most demanding position in baseball as well. What has that been like over the course of your young professional career as you look to stack that experience year over year?
DB: “Definitely, at the beginning, I didn’t really know what to do. I thought I did, but once you get into the life of pro ball, where it’s every single day, it becomes a lot. There are definitely ups and downs with it, but I’m just trying to find a consistent routine and continue that. I think the ways I’ve found that routine was being with guys like Travis d’Arnaud and Sean Murphy in Spring Training. There are so many guys who have so much experience. I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from them and I think that’s helped me a ton with not getting too high, not getting too low, and just kind of staying in the present moment to keep pushing forward.”
GM: Well, let me ask you a little about 2025 and beyond. You’ve risen to the Triple-A level, so the next stop is the big leagues. You’re here in big league camp. Sean Murphy is here and is the incumbent starter. Travis d’Arnaud has departed. I know you’ve looked at the overall team aspect of it, but for you, individually, that represents a potential opportunity in 2025. How do you anticipate that as you get ready to go into a new season, knowing that the call could come virtually any time in the next seven months?
DB: “It’s definitely exciting to be in this situation, but I don’t really have much say in it besides what I do on the field. So, that’s kind of how I’m taking everything. I’m just going out there doing what I can to get better every single day. If it happens, it happens, and I’ll just do the best to do what I can to help the Braves win games.”