Braves get best possible news on Drake Baldwin

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Braves get best possible news on Drake Baldwin

Originally posted on SportsTalkATL | By Chase Irle | Last updated May 20, 2026 10:14 AM ET

For a brief moment on Tuesday morning, things felt like they might start spiraling out of control for the Braves for the first time all season.

The team had just been walloped by the Marlins in their worst loss of the year. It triggered some pretty significant roster moves, including the outright release of Aaron Bummer. But where things really got grim was the announcement that Drake Baldwin was headed to the IL with an oblique strain.

Now, like most muscle injuries, oblique strains vary. Some last a couple of weeks. Others cost a player three months or more. All Walt Weiss offered prior to Tuesday’s game was that Baldwin was back in Atlanta for further tests — some of the scariest words in the sport.

Then the actual game started, and the Braves found themselves down 4-2. Throw in the fact that the Phillies came into yesterday having won 16 of their last 20, and in the span of about 36 hours, it suddenly felt like things were about to get real interesting.

But then some clutch hits from Mauricio Dubon and Matt Olson put the Braves back on top — and when that happens late in a ballgame, the trio of Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez, and Raisel Iglesias does not give it back. Atlanta went on to win 8-4, which was followed by the best news of the day.

Braves manager Walt Weiss says that it's a "mild" Grade 1 right oblique strain for C Drake Baldwin. He says that they averted a "major one"

— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) May 19, 2026

Without question, the best-case scenario for the Braves — who just dodged yet another bullet.

This now feels very similar to the situation the club just navigated with Ronald Acuña Jr. , who missed a little over two weeks with a very mild Grade 1 hamstring strain. Oblique injuries can be trickier, especially for a position as physically demanding as catcher, but it’s entirely possible Drake Baldwin is back at some point in the first half of June.

These kinds of positive injury reports have been unfamiliar territory for the Braves over the last couple of seasons. In previous years, the team would announce that “Player A is going to be just fine” — only for fans to find out a few hours later that he was going to need a limb amputated.

Perhaps 2026 really is the Atlanta Braves’ year.

This article first appeared on SportsTalkATL and was syndicated with permission.

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