Atlanta Braves fans have quickly grown to love Drake Baldwin. He burst onto the scene in a big way in 2025, showing why he was an early draft selection. Now, he's a mainstay in Atlanta's lineup and is one of their most valuable players. There have been a lot of impressive catchers in the history of the franchise, and Baldwin could eventually find himself among them. However, he has a long way to go.
Baldwin currently has the 18th-highest OPS by a Braves catcher over at least 400 plate appearances. He's reached this mark with some of the most impressive hits anyone will ever see. But he has a lot of work to do to take the top spot.
Drake Baldwin has a long way to go to beat some of the best catcher seasons in Braves history
Javy Lopez still holds the best season by a Braves catcher. In 2003, he ended the season with a .328 average, 43 HR, a 1.065 OPS, a 169 OPS+, and a 6.8 bWAR. Baldwin has the power necessary to hit that many homers in a season, but a lot would need to go right for him to hit that many in a season.
There's also Brian McCann and Joe Torre to consider. They both had multiple seasons with significantly higher OPS numbers. Baldwin has stayed above .800 in his first two seasons. McCann's best season came just three years after Lopez in 2006, with a .333 average, 24 homers, a .961 OPS, 143 OPS+, and a 4.3 bWAR.
Torre's best season was in 1966 with Milwaukee. He had a .315 average, 36 homers, a .943 OPS, a 156 OPS+, and a 6.4 bWAR.
So, Baldwin's WAR isn't too far off from either one of those seasons. He had a 3.4 WAR during his rookie campaign and currently has a 2.6 WAR in his sophomore season. There needs to be an improvement in his batting average, OPS, homers, and OPS+ if he's going to reach the same heights as the aforementioned players.
Atlanta's catcher still has plenty of time to play his best baseball. Whether he reaches the heights of some of the best in Braves history will depend on his ability to remain healthy and perform at a high rate. Baldwin has shown he is one of the most consistent hitters on the team, so there's no reason to believe he won't achieve this feat at some point.
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