Can Braves continue hot start without Drake Baldwin?

The recent news surrounding Drake Baldwin going to the IL with an oblique injury is a nightmare situation. In the span of the week, the Braves went from by far the best catching situation in baseball to the worst — with Chadwick Tromp and Sandy Leon set to handle duties behind the plate for the foreseeable future.

Alex Anthopoulos is likely working the phone feverishly in an attempt to find a competent MLB catcher, but no matter who they bring in, nobody is replacing the production left behind from Drake Baldwin, who is hitting .303 with 13 home runs and a .931 OPS through the first 48 games.

The Braves must do what they’ve done all season to this point — everybody has to pick up the slack. And the easiest way to envision that happening is Ronald Acuña Jr. performing like the Ronald Acuña Jr. we’ve witnessed throughout his entire career.

Atlanta is 32-16 in spite of Acuña’s slow start. He was just activated off the IL after dealing with a minor hamstring strain, but even when he was healthy, he only posted a .740 OPS with a couple of home runs over the first 34 games. For a lot of major leaguers, those are career numbers, but not for the only man in history who recorded 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases in a single season.

The sky is not falling yet. Drake Baldwin might be the leader in the clubhouse right now for the NL MVP award, but the Braves are essentially replacing him on the roster with another MVP caliber player. Great teams feature a number of players capable of picking up the team almost single-handedly. Atlanta’s roster has several of those guys, but they’ll need Acuña to lead the charge while Baldwin works his way back from what the Braves hope is a minor injury.