Description
Drake Baldwin is a top catching prospect for the Atlanta Braves. Baldwin was drafted in the 3rd Round (86th Pick) of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves. Baldwin played college baseball for Missouri State. He’s the highest Bear to be selected since Jeremy Eierman was taken by the Oakland Athletics in the second round with the 70th overall pick in 2018.
Baldwin showed flashes during a pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign that lasted 17 games. He followed in his sophomore year by earning second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors while batting .291 and having a perfect fielding percentage in league play. The 6-foot-1, 225-pounder then followed it up with a junior season that caught the attention of scouts from across the country. He had his best season in a Bears uniform, batting .341 with 19 home runs and 70 RBI and leading Missouri State into postseason play for the first time in his career.
In 2023, Baldwin excelled in the Atlanta Braves minor leagues playing 92 games for Rome, 14 for Mississippi and 3 for Triple-A Gwinnett. The 22 year old hit .270 with 16 HR’s, 61 RBI’s, a staggering .384 OBP and .844 OPS. The sky is bright for the Atlanta Braves prospect!
In 72 Triple-A games in 2024, 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). This performance earned him the honor of being named the Braves Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Baldwin’s profile is the contact rates. Not only does he rank in the 98th percentile (AAA) for 90th percentile exit velocity and average exit velocity, but he’s also making contact at a 93% clip.
Baldwin led Triple-A catchers (min. 1,000 pitches seen) with a 93.1 mph average exit velocity and 51.9 percent hard-hit rate. For reference, no Major League catcher had a hard-hit rate higher than 50.0 percent this season under the same playing-time constraints. Baldwin’s walk rate also jumped from 9.2 percent with Mississippi to 15.6 with Gwinnett, and he thinks his eye contributes just as much to his in-game power as his natural strength as a left-handed hitter.
Baldwin was the lone Atlanta Braves representative at the 2024 All-Star Futures Game. Last year, the Braves sent RHP Spencer Schwellenbach who has been great as of late for the major league club. Baldwin was the DH for the NL squad and hit ninth in the lineup. In three plate appearances, he went 1-for-2 with two RBIs. The first RBI came from a sacrifice fly off of Astros RHP prospect A.J. Blaubaugh. The second RBI was a solo home run into left-center field that put the NL Futures team up 5-1.
The ball left Baldwin’s bat at 107.3 MPH, making it the hardest-hit ball of the game. Yes, Baldwin’s opposite-field homer was the hardest-hit ball in a game that was filled with the world’s most talented baseball prospects. It also traveled 411 feet, making it the farthest-hit ball of the game. Baldwin was already making a name for himself among Braves Country but his performance in the Futures Game is going to introduce a whole new audience to the slugger!!
His incredible 2024 Season continued after tearing up the Arizona Fall League and being included on Team USA’s Premier12™ roster. He joined Top 100 prospects Carson Williams (Rays), Matt Shaw (Cubs), Justin Crawford (Phillies) and Termarr Johnson (Pirates) on an American side loaded with top talents not currently on Major League 40-man rosters. The WBSC Premier12 is the international baseball tournament organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), featuring the 12 highest-ranked national baseball teams in the world. The first tournament was held by Taiwan and Japan in November 2015. The second tournament, 2019 WBSC Premier12, was held in November 2019, and served as a qualifier for two teams for baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Originally scheduled for 2023, but delayed due to COVID-19, the championship will be held from November 9 to 24, 2024, in Japan, Mexico, and Taiwan. Japan are the defending champions.
The featured practice used Rawlings Official Major League Baseball was signed by Atlanta Braves Prospect Drake Baldwin. The talented catcher is a member of the Gwinnett Stripers. The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. Baldwin signed the Baseball and added “2023 Post Season All Star” in blue. Baldwin was named an All-Star in 2023 for his stellar season with Rome with 14 HR’s, 54 RBI’s and an .854 OPS. The Baseball was obtained directly from former Atlanta Braves Prospect Cesar Rodriguez and was practice used in Atlanta Braves Spring Training. Awesome and unique signed baseball from one of the Braves Top Prospects!
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