Braves’ rookie stars take over Sunday Night Baseball

Amid a disastrous season, Drake Baldwin and Hurston Waldrep serve as reminders that the Braves’ future still has a lot of promise. The duo stole the spotlight on the national stage during Sunday Night Baseball against the Phillies.

Waldrep, who entered the game on a streak of five straight appearances allowing one run or less, was brilliant again. He struck out a career-high nine batters, most of which came on his devastating splitter, an offering that’s quickly establishing itself as one of the nastiest secondary pitches in the game.

The Phillies were only able to muster one run off of Waldrep over 5.2 innings, a homer in the fourth from Brandon Marsh. However, that one run was actually enough to raise Waldrep’s ERA from 0.90 to 1.01, a sign of just how dominant he’s been since the Braves turned to him as a fill-in following a rainout at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Had Waldrep began the season by pitching like this in the majors, he’d be running away with the Rookie of the Year award, but that honor still has a chance to go to Drake Baldwin. The hero on Sunday night blasted a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth to give the Braves a lead, helping them avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Phillies.

The homer gives Baldwin 15 long balls on the season to go with a .280 batting average and an .812 OPS. He’s been by far the most impressive rookie in the National League this season. The only thing that’s kept him from running away with the award is playing time. He’s splitting catching duties with Sean Murphy, and for whatever reason, the Braves are still trotting out Marcell Ozuna as the team’s DH most nights.

As of now, Baldwin is in a neck-and-neck race for the Rookie of the Year award. DraftKings currently has him at +150 to win, trailing only Cade Horton of the Cubs, who is priced at +125.

The buildings in Vegas don’t build themselves. They’ve got a pulse on everything, but Horton winning the award with 1.1 WAR, a 3.79 FIP, and 7.4 K/9 would be a travesty. He’s nowhere near the player Baldwin has been throughout the season.