The Atlanta Braves did not have much to celebrate in 2025, but there were some notable bright spots. Hurston Waldrep's emergence as a viable rotation arm was a very welcome development, Ha-Seong Kim played very well after getting claimed off of waivers, and of course there was the play of Drake Baldwin basically all season long. However, with the announcement of the Silver Slugger finalists exclusively by FanSided, there is a sense that voters may have overlooked something.
Baldwin may have been thrust into the limelight after Sean Murphy's injury in spring training, but he more than rose to the challenge. After a rookie season where he posted a 125 wRC+ while getting high marks from his pitching staff, Baldwin finds himself in a tight two-horse race with Cade Horton for NL Rookie of the Year.
We won't know the results of the Rookie of the Year race for a while, but finalists for the Silver Slugger awards for the NL were just announced. While the Braves did get finalist nods for Matt Olson (as expected) and Austin Riley (what?!), Baldwin found himself shut out.
Matt Olson is a deserving Silver Slugger finalist, but Braves fans should be upset at Drake Baldwin's snub
It is pretty irritating to see how the Silver Slugger voting (done by managers and coaches around the league, don't send Louisville Slugger hate mail please) turned out for catcher in the NL this year. The Dodgers' Will Smith was a mortal lock to get a slot and is probably the prohibitive favorite to win the award thanks to his 150 wRC+. The Rockies' Hunter Goodman also had a great year, so his inclusion is reasonable. However, Baldwin had a strictly better year on offense than third finalist, former Braves catcher William Contreras, but name recognition and playing on top contender unfortunately has some benefits.
Beyond that, Olson being a finalist was pretty much assured, although the competition is pretty fierce for the trophy with Freddie Freeman and Pete Alonso. As for Austin Riley, that one is a bit of a puzzler and fans of the Brewers' Caleb Durbin (also formerly of the Braves' organization) are probably pretty upset right now especially given how much time Riley has missed.
We'll know in a few weeks as to who will take home the hardware, but it does seem like a tough year for Atlanta to break through and with an actual trophy here. However, that Baldwin didn't even make it to the finalist round feels like a big miss by the various coaches that voted.