Right now, the Atlanta Braves are on a roll. After Bryce Elder shut the Marlins down on Wednesday, the Braves have now won seven straight games and seen their division lead in the NL East grow to 8.5 games over the faltering Phillies. The pitching staff has been better, and the lineup is more balanced after the return of Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley's recent surge, and trading for Lane Thomas. However, there are few bigger differences than the one Drake Baldwin has provided.
Before he went down with an oblique injury in May, Baldwin was making a very strong case as the best catcher in baseball. In fact, he was so good that he ran away with the voting at catcher for the All-Star Game despite missing a month and struggling upon his return from the injured list.
However, those struggles did not last long, and once we got to the second half of the season, Baldwin got back to reminding everyone just how much he matters to the Braves team and that he could easily be considered the team's MVP in 2026.
Drake Baldwin is back and reminding all of us what the Braves were missing when he was out
Thankfully, the oblique injury that Baldwin suffered was minor, and he only missed a month, but that stretch after his return to close out the first half was very concerning. From his first game back on June 16 through the All-Star break, Baldwin only posted a .154/.252/.220 line, and that included a homer at the start of his return. His timing was off, and he looked like a shadow of his former self. That the Braves struggled with him hitting like that is not a coincidence.
However, Baldwin used the All-Star break to recharge a bit and got back on track in quick order. In the 19 games to start the second half, Baldwin is slashing .338/.430/.554 with five homers and 12 walks against 15 strikeouts. While there are many reasons for the team's improvement lately, that Atlanta has gone 14-5 over that same stretch should tell everyone all they need to know.
It's really unfortunate, because Baldwin probably would have gotten significant down-ballot support in the NL MVP race had he not gotten hurt at this rate. Hell, that may still happen if he keeps playing like this. That said, there should be little doubt that for the 2026 Braves, Baldwin has been their most valuable player and other than Chris Sale or maybe Matt Olson, it isn't all that close.
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