No one is writing off Ronald Acuña Jr. yet, nor should they be. The Atlanta Braves' former NL MVP may be dealing with a hamstring injury, and he definitely wasn't hitting particularly well before that, but betting against him going out and going wild for a month is a bet that is asking for trouble. The odds are very good that, sooner or later, Acuña Jr. will do Acuña Jr. things. However, that doesn't mean all of the changes brought on by his absence should revert upon his return.
While Acuña Jr. is still the most talented player on the Braves' roster, no one would argue if you called Drake Baldwin one of their best hitters. After a fantastic Rookie of the Year season in 2025, Baldwin has actually gotten better this season and now finds himself as a top 10 player in baseball by fWAR (basically tied with teammate Matt Olson, oddly enough).
Since Acuña Jr. has been out, Baldwin has also found himself hitting leadoff a bit, and, given some of the early results and what it could do for the lineup, it might not be crazy to see the Braves continue to have him in the top lineup spot in some situations once Acuña Jr. is back.
Drake Baldwin stealing leadoff starts from Ronald Acuña Jr. might not be the worst idea
If we are honest with ourselves here, the Braves will be fine with either player hitting leadoff. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses, both in general and as a leadoff guy, but Atlanta would not be hurt (probably) with either guy at the top.
However, what keeping Baldwin at leadoff WOULD do is help further break up the lefties and righties in the Braves' lineup, assuming other decisions are made. Especially against righty starters, having Acuña Jr. in the two-spot sandwiched between Baldwin and Matt Olson would be pure nightmare fuel for opposing managers to navigate with their bullpens. There may also be some merit to taking some of the pressure off of Acuña Jr. while he gets back up to speed and being protected by Olson in the lineup, but those are marginal advantages at best.
Now, that doesn't mean there aren't potential downsides. Baldwin only has eight games as a leadoff hitter, and the results, once you look at "all" of them, are a bit mixed. Atlanta would also have to weigh what is more likely to happen: Baldwin coming through with Acuña Jr. on base, or vice versa. There is also the matter that Baldwin has surprisingly strong reverse splits, so when it would actually make sense to deploy Baldwin at leadoff isn't overly clear.
Having multiple strong leadoff options (Olson has a strong argument as well) is not an actual problem. If we are honest with ourselves, odds are good that Walt Weiss will want to go back to Acuña Jr. at leadoff, if for no other reason, because he really wants Acuña Jr. to have confidence and get going quickly. However, if he DOES opt to continue to give Baldwin some starts at leadoff, it isn't the worst idea.
Add us as a preferred source on Google