Through the Atlanta Braves first 10 games of the 2026 season, it's been undeniable that Drake Baldwin has been their best hitter. The reigning NL Rookie of the Year winner has not fallen victim to the sophomore slump, slashing .300/.378/.625 with a team leading four home runs and 10 runs scored.
With Sean Murphy out still recovering from his hip injury and Jurickson Profar suspended for the season, the Braves are surely relieved that Baldwin come out of the gate as hot as he has been. However, despite the impressive start, Baldwin has actually had some bad luck to start the season. Despite hitting rockets all over the diamond, the 25-year-old hasn't always been rewarded.
Drake Baldwin's underperforming expected stats
Baldwin's 181 wRC+ is 36 points higher than the Braves next-best qualified hitter, Mauricio Dubón. He tied Henry Aaron's Braves record with a run scored in the first seven games of the season, but somehow, Baldwin has managed to do this while having a subpar .242 BABIP, third-lowest among the team's eight qualifying hitters.
Baldwin's has also slightly underperformed his .461 xwOBA, which was the eighth-highest in baseball going into Monday. His .437 wOBA ranked 27th in MLB. His .323 xBA is 23 points higher than his actual .300 AVG, while his .698 xSLG was 73 points higher than his actual SLG of .625.
Of course, Denzel Clarke's insane home run robbery didn't help Baldwin's slugging, but he is second on the team in hard hit outs, with 10. Only Michael Harris II had more entering Monday, with 12. Baldwin's 10 hard hit outs was tied for seventh in the majors.
Essentially, Baldwin's been hitting the ball even better than the insanely good results indicate.
It seems hard to believe that Drake Baldwin could be even better than he was last year, when he ran away with the NL Rookie of the Year, but Baldwin's start to the 2026 season makes it easy to believe that we might not even being seeing the best version of the young catcher.