Braves Getting Drake Baldwin in Lineup a Growing Necessity

To the surprise of few, Drake Baldwin delivered in the clutch for the Atlanta Braves again. In the top of the ninth inning, he belted a two-run home run to put his team up 3-1. They’d go on to win by that score and avoid being swept. 

Coming in late in a game and lifting the Braves to a win is nothing they haven’t gotten accustomed to. It’s also making it more perplexing that he’s not in the lineup every day. 

The logic of why is understood. Sean Murphy is an all-star catcher in his own right worthy of playing time. He’s also getting paid $15 million a year, making it equally as hard to justify benching him as difficult to justify not playing Baldwin. 

We could discuss that Marcell Ozuna is still in the picture, but his resurgence has long ended.  Over his last 12 games, the 2024 All-Star is batting .108 with a .423 OPS, no home runs and two RBIs. 

It would be better for the Braves to go get a third catcher on the active roster again, which is easier to do now that the expanded roster has arrived - you can have 28 players on the active roster in September. 

For the remainder of the season, get both catcher in the lineup. Have one DH and have the other behind the dish. It’s been done before - as recently as a few weeks ago, as a matter of fact. It can be opted for again. 

We’ve been seeing some games where Ronald Acuña Jr. is the designated hitter while another outfielder gets in the lineup. That’s fine when one of the catchers needs a night off and to help Acuña pace himself. 

Outside of that exception, the rookie needs to get at-bats. The goal needs to be, even if this team is out of the playoff hunt, to get the best players as many reps as possible. This team needs to do what it can to help paint a better picture of what next season could look like and the needs that have to be addressed over the winter. 

Playing Baldwin more could even help the Braves decide if they’re comfortable moving on from Murphy in order to strengthen the roster elsewhere. Baldwin has also shown that it’s better to have him in the Majors instead of getting regular playing time in Gwinnett. That also says a lot about why he needs to get into more games. 

This change could very well come down the stretch. Once it does, maybe are going to wonder what took so long. 

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