The Atlanta Braves made a quiet but telling decision before Wednesday night’s game in San Diego. Drake Baldwin wasn’t in the lineup. Not just a routine day off — this one felt different.
Baldwin, the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year who started this season looking like an early MVP candidate, has hit a wall that’s hard to ignore. Since returning from a Grade 1 right oblique strain on May 18, he homered in his first plate appearance back. Then everything went sideways.
According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, Baldwin is 1-for-29 with 18 strikeouts since that homer. He’s had more games with three or more strikeouts (four) in his last seven games than he did across his entire 172-game career before the injury. That’s not a slump. That’s something closer to a full unraveling.
A catcher known for discipline can’t find the zone
Baldwin built his reputation on exactly the things he’s not doing right now. Plate discipline. Consistent contact. Working counts. Instead, he’s chasing pitches outside the zone and missing swings he used to make. The Braves signed up for a polished backstop who could anchor the bottom of the order. What they’re getting lately is a hitter who looks lost.
The timing of it matters. Sean Murphy is still on the injured list, so the catching depth is already thin. Joey Bart got the start Wednesday, catching Martin Perez and hitting seventh. The Braves are asking Bart to carry more of the load while Baldwin takes a mental and mechanical reset.
This isn’t just about one game
Atlanta dropped the first two games of the series against the Padres and was staring at a potential sweep. Pulling Baldwin out now isn’t just about giving him a breather. It’s about trying to stop the bleeding in the lineup and giving the guy a chance to slow things down before the spiral gets worse.
The Braves need Baldwin to be the hitter he was. Not just for the box score but for the balance of the whole order. When he’s on, he lengthens the lineup and makes everyone around him better. When he’s off — and he’s been way off — it creates a hole that’s hard to hide, especially with a thin catching group behind him.
Baldwin will get another shot. Probably soon. But the pause says something about how concerned the Braves are. You don’t sit last year’s Rookie of the Year in a sweep situation unless you think the reset is worth the risk.
Whether he bounces back in the next series or needs more time to find his timing, one thing is already decided: the Braves can’t afford to wait much longer.
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