After winning the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year, Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin won't be the Opening Day catcher. Braves manager Walt Weiss announced that the second-year budding star would still in the lineup, but would be slotted in as the designated hitter instead.
At first glance, this decision seems a bit odd, especially since Baldwin graded out fairly evenly defensively. But the decision likely has little to do with Baldwin's defense, nor does it have much to do with backup catcher Jonah Heim's bat.
Instead, this is likely a strategic platoon decision by Weiss, and might indicate that former All-Star catcher Sean Murphy will be on the mend sooner rather than later.
Baldwin will DH tomorrow and Heim will catch. Walt says this is the way he’ll likely go against lefty starters for a while
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) March 26, 2026
Drake Baldwin's Opening Day position could be hint that Sean Murphy will be back very soon
The Braves have 13 straight games to open the season, and without Jurickson Profar, the DH spot will likely be a revolving door for the Braves. Atlanta also opens the season against Kansas City Royals starter Cole Ragens, a lefty.
While Dominic Smith seems like the obvious choice to DH against righties, as he's was still an above-average against them last season, there's not an obvious candidate for the other side of the platoon, as the righties on the bench, Eli White, Kyle Farmer, and Jorge Mateo are necessarily big hitters.
Rather than try and use one of these righties as the DH, Weiss and the Braves coaching staff has decided to use Baldwin instead. As Twitter/X user Harsha (aka ArmchairAlex) pointed out, the Braves want to get as many at bats out of Baldwin as possible, and using him as the DH against lefties would allow him to be the catcher as much as possible when they face righties.
Although Heim's bat didn't impress during spring training, the switch-hitter has fared better against lefties in his career, with his .733 career OPS against lefties over 100 points higher than his .626 OPS against righties. Since the Braves will need to start him semi-regularly anyway to keep Baldwin fresh, they may as well start Heim against pitchers he hits better against.
Of course, Heim might not be around for very long. Atlanta seems much more likely to commit to this version of a platoon in the short-term, with the idea that Murphy could be right around the corner. While Murphy is starting the season on the IL, the Braves still believe he'll be back in May. This commitment to Baldwin DHing may be a hint that they believe Murphy will be back sooner in May rather than later.
As strange as it will be to see the lineup card tomorrow with Baldwin slotted in at DH rather than catcher, it's a decision easy to get behind since it gives the Braves the best lineup and is the best long-term plan for Baldwin.