Braves Top Prospect Predicted to Start Season in Minor Leagues

The highlight among the young talent joining the Atlanta Braves in Spring Training is catching prospect Drake Baldwin. He’s now a top-100 prospect, bringing wider attention to what the future holds. 

However, the future isn’t quite yet according to a prediction from MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. In his prediction for the Opening Day roster, he has Chadwick Tromp backing up Sean Murphy. 

The highly logical reason behind it is Baldwin will continue to regular playing time up in Gwinnett while Tromp fills in when necessary.  

“Tromp will fill the backup role while top prospect Drake Baldwin gets more seasoning and stays prepared until there’s a clear opportunity to play on a regular basis,” Bowman wrote. 

Murphy is reportedly expected to play around four-fifths of the games. Depending on how you round to the nearest whole number, that’s 129 or 130 games. There’s no reason to start the service time clock when there is going to be room for about 32 to 33 games as the starting catcher. 

That doesn’t mean that’s the only time he would play. He could come in late in games as a pinch hitter and catch the late-inning arms after that. He could also play more because Murphy misses a few games with an injury. 

But that’s still inconsistent playing time. That won’t max out any higher than maybe 50 total appearances unless Murphy misses significant time. 

Keep him sharp in Gwinnett instead of having him sit around in Atlanta. There are 150 games to be played in a Triple-A season. He played in 72 of them last year and would get plenty more this time around starting there in the spring. 

This doesn't mean we won't see him at all. It just makes more sense to bring him down to Atlanta when necessary.

In those 72 Triple-A games, Baldwin batted .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 nearly as many walks (52) as strikeouts (54).

Above all, it’s impressive that he’s a catcher hitting this well. It’s a hot commodity in the Major Leagues. On top of that, he plays solid defense. According to Baseball Savant, his arm and fielding are both rated a 50 on the 20 to 80 scale. That is considered above average.

He was named the Braves 2024 Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America. 

While the Braves top 30 prospects for 2025 has yet to be released, it can be presumed since he is the high rankings Braves prospect in the Top 100 that he will be their No. 1 prospect this season.