Prospect Drake Baldwin still a phone call away from Atlanta Braves debut

Atlanta Braves forward Drake Baldwin put himself on the Braves Country map last season with a strong Triple-A performance. Seeing him in a Braves uniform in 2025 is now a “when” instead of an “if.”

David O’Brien of The Athletic wrote in a piece Thursday, quoting general manager Alex Anthopoulos, that Baldwin is. “At this point, it’s one phone call away.”

To be clear, the Braves No. 5 prospect is still expected to spend the majority of his time in Triple-A. This isn’t even necessarily a bad thing. It gives him more time to perfect his craft.

However, injuries happen. We saw that last year with both catchers, Sean Murphy and Travis d’Arnaud. Murphy missed all of April due to an oblique injury, and d’Arnaud missed a few games for multiple reasons, such as minor injuries and the paternity list.

It’s almost inevitable that we’ll need a third catcher. The odds of both catchers being completely healthy in all 162 games are highly unlikely. The odds of Baldwin making his Major League debut sometime in 2025 are pretty good.

Now, of course, Baldwin also has to stay healthy. If he gets injured himself, he won’t be able to fill in for the guys in front of him.

In 72 Triple-A games in 2024, Baldwin hit .298 with an .891 OPS, 12 home runs and 55 RBIs. His on-base percentage was .407. He showed solid plate discipline with a 16.2% strikeout rate. He had almost as many walks (52) as strikeouts (54).

This performance earned him the honor of being named Braves Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America. He was the team’s representative in the 2024 All-Star Futures Game in July while still at Double-A Mississippi.

Alternatives like Chadwick Thomp, who was the go-to backup catcher last season, are still with the organization. He played in 19 games across April and May. He was also called up in September, but his services were not needed in the game. He hit a career-best .250 with six doubles, six RBIs and a .625 OPS in 54 at-bats in 2024.

But at this point, Baldwin has moved Tromp into the No. 3 catcher spot, unless, as previously mentioned, he’s also unavailable.