Braves Strider Pinpoints Underrated Parts of Baldwin's ROY Case

Tuesday night’s bout between the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs featured two top candidates for rookie of the year: Braves catcher Drake Baldwin and Cubs starter Cade Horton. 

Horton put on a show, setting down Baldwin three times. Unfortunately for the Braves' rookie, the competitor for the award was the one to fortify his case that night in the eyes of most. 

Regardless of the outcome and how much he’s been impressed by Horton this year, Spencer Strider made his case for his catcher to take home the award. 

While he felt that Baldwin’s stats at the plate still give him a strong case, the efforts behind the dish are what put him over the top. 

“I know we think about Rookie of the Year, it’s a lot of offensive stats or pitcher stats, but defensively, the catcher position, obviously, how integral it is to the team. To me, what he’s done on that side of the ball, as a rookie, just the way this season’s gone, I think it’s something you can’t find anywhere else in the league from a guy in the first year.”

He’s also been able to get the job done in a turbulent season where he likely should have started 2025 off in Triple-A. He had hype surrounding him after his performance with Triple-A Gwinnett last season.

“I don’t want to speak for him, but it didn’t feel like coming into Spring Training that anybody was really that sure that he was going to make the team,” Strider said. “I don't know that it was something anybody was really thinking about.”

He was in the right place to seize the opportunity. Starting catcher Sean Murphy went down early in Spring Training with a cracked rib. The choice was made that Baldwin would become the starting catcher to start the year.

Baldwin didn’t just hold down the fort. He ultimately thrived in the chance he got.  

In 108 games in a platoon role with Murphy, he’s batting .273 with 15 home runs and 45 RBIs. He’s managed to maintain a lower strikeout rate of 15.6% when the Braves, as a team, strikeout 22.9% of the time. 

Behind the plate, he has a .994 fielding percentage. His caught stealing rate (11%) is a work in progress, but it can be built upon. 

He’s brought very mature discipline in just his first year in the Majors. Even when he wasn’t necessarily getting on base at the beginning, how he took his at-bats and the contact he was making was catching attention. 

It might be hard for him to pull away in the Rookie of the Year voting at this point, but he’s locked in a case that’ll make him at least a finalist.  

More From Atlanta Braves on SI