Drake Baldwin

Once Baldwin got out of Mississippi (the worst Double-A park to hit in), his season took off. He slashed .298/.407/.484 with 12 homers and almost as many walks (52) as strikeouts (54) in 72 games at Triple-A. Baldwin followed that up with a .377/.452/.491 triple-slash and a 9:8 K:BB in 13 Arizona Fall League games. Baldwin showed last year that his command of the zone and bat-to-ball ability (79.7 Contact%) are pretty elite relative to most upper-level catchers. This helped lead to a 32.6 percent hard-hit rate and a 16.3 percent soft-hit rate, which are excellent marks for any minor-league hitter. With Travis d'Arnaud moving on, Baldwin is a clear top-two catcher on Atlanta's organizational depth chart from a talent standpoint, as of late November. Chadwick Tromp is still on the 40-man roster and is out of options, but Baldwin is a better overall player and should spend most or all of 2025 in the big leagues. Sean Murphy is coming off his worst full big-league season, and whether he can bounce back and handle 100-plus games will greatly impact Baldwin's output. Read Past Outlooks