Single Post

The stretch run in fantasy baseball is here, and the difference in winning and losing a title may come down to a sneaky waiver wire addition or trade for a player that is not really a household name.

Drake Baldwin kind of fits that description. Despite being drafted in 2022, it wasn’t until this past offseason that Baldwin showed up on top 100 prospect lists. As the season has progressed, he has been steady at the plate and put up solid numbers.

Despite that fact, he is pretty much available to add to your team right now as he is rostered in only 10.5% of ESPN leagues and 20% of Yahoo leagues. That is just wrong. Catchers who can hit are a rare commodity. Add in the power he can produce, and it is a crime that he is not on more teams.

Let’s take a look at Baldwin and see why he should be on your team.

Career Statistics

Road to the Show

After not being drafted out of high school, Drake Baldwin attended Missouri State University and was a three-year starter at the school. He was decent his first two years before having a breakout season as a junior in 2022. In 43 games, he slashed .341/.448/.647 with 58 runs scored, 19 homers, and 70 RBI. That is a huge uptick compared to his first two years (2020 was cut short due to COVID) when he had five home runs in 69 games.

That big 2022 season led the Braves to draft him in the third round. Baldwin has worked his way through the system, playing at the Rookie and Class A levels in 2022 before playing at three different levels in 2023, starting High-A ball and finishing with a three-games stint in Triple-A. In 2024, he played 52 games at the Double-A level and finished the season in Triple-A, where he appeared in 72 games and he was also selected to play in the 2024 Futures Game.

During each stop in the minors, Baldwin continued to showcase the power he displayed in college, hitting 16 homers in 109 total games in 2023 and then 16 in 124 games last season. His steady ascent through the minors finally caught the attention of people who rank prospects. Entering the 2025 season, Baldwin was ranked 63rd by MLB, 53rd by Baseball America, and 37th by Baseball Prospectus.

Drake Baldwin showed why he was deserving of those rankings during spring training and then broke camp with the Braves. Since then, he hasn’t looked back.

The Tools

Probably the first thing that stands out when it comes to Baldwin is his understanding of the strike zone. Being a catcher likely helps in that regard, but I have watched plenty of catchers play who think every pitch thrown should be swung at (I’m looking at you, Yainer Diaz). Despite being a rookie, Baldwin’s Whiff% ranks in the 76th percentile and his K% ranks in the 75th percentile.

What does that mean as far as numbers – well he has a 16.8% strikeout rate, way below the MLB average of 21.9%. His walk rate of 8.8% is right on with the MLB average, which is pretty good for a rookie. His strikeout and walk rates aren’t a fluke. In college, his career strikeout rate was 11.6% and his walk rate was 11.4% (he had 62 career strikeouts and 61 career walks in 120 games). In 257 career minor league games covering 1,138 plate appearances, he had a 19.1% strikeout rate and a 13.8% walk rate.

Overall, just look at his hitting chart above. His xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, Average EV, Hard Hit% and Bat Speed rank from way above average to elite. The Hard Hit% and bat speed rank in the 90th and 92nd percentile, respectively. The average EV in the majors is 88.9 mph and the average Hard Hit% is 41.1%. Drake Baldwin is blowing those away. This is a player who is patient at the plate and when he does swing, hits the ball hard. That combination leads to success.

Balwin’s hit tool alone should be reason enough to have him on your team. But he also does and will continue to supply good power. He currently is sitting on 11 homers and 41 RBI in 71 games. Over 162 games, that would average out to be 25 home runs and 93 RBI.

Right now he sports a .479 slugging percentage. Among catchers with 200 or more at-bats, that ranks sixth. And his 11 home runs ranks 11th among all catchers. When compared to fellow rookie catchers, Baldwin is pretty much in a class of his own, ranking first in homers, RBI, second in batting average, slugging and OPS (Yohel Pozo ranks first in those three categories but has only 100 at-bats), and third in OBP behind Kyle Teel and Liam Hicks, who have 83 and 181 at-bats respectively.

As Drake Baldwin has matured and added strength to his 6-foot-1 frame, he has been able to tap more and more into his raw talent, especially to the pull side. There is no reason to think that power is going to disappear.

Speed? What speed? Baldwin is not a base stealer and never will be a threat to be one during his career. So let’s move on.

The Verdict

It is pretty apparent to me that Baldwin is a player you should go after. During the preseason, I was choosing to either snag Baldwin or Blake Mitchell from the Royals as a catcher to add to my system. In the end, I went with Mitchell. That may be a good choice down the road, but I am really wishing I had Baldwin on my right now, because the more I have been able to see him play, the more I like his approach at the plate.

Thanks to be a patient hitter, he will be a pretty consistent player throughout the season. Just look at this splits each month:

After a pretty average April, he put together a great month of June. The numbers you see speak for themselves. But even more amazing may be the fact that in 56 plate appearances in May, he struck out only five times.

He slumped in June, at least when it came to his batting average and he did have a 20% strikeout rate. But he still hit four homers and drove in 11 runs while also walking 10 times to give him a decent OBP that month. So far in July, he has rebounded to have a .296/.356/.500 slash line, and he is lowering his strikeout rate.

What this all spells out is a player who currently owns an OPS+ of 131. No matter what position or what age a player is, if they have a 131 OPS+ then they are players I want, especially down the stretch this season.

Thanks for reading and come back again next week.