When Drake Baldwin broke out with the Atlanta Braves in 2025, winning the National League Rookie of the Year award, he became yet another Braves success story at catcher. After all, in just the last 25 years, the Braves have had six catchers appear in 12 different All-Star Games, and that doesn't even include Baldwin, who did not go to the Midsummer Classic last season.
However, while it's easy for the Braves to recall Brian McCann, Javy Lopez, and Travis d'Arnaud, Johnny Estrada's 2004 All-Star campaign might be forgotten by some.
Johnny Estrada is the Braves' forgotten All-Star catcher
Estrada only joined the Braves because Atlanta went overbudget on starting pitching. Greg Maddux had accepted the club's arbitration offer during the 2002-2003 offseason, putting them $15 million over their budget. The front office's solution was to trade Kevin Millwood to the rival Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for the 26-year-old catcher.
According to GM John Schuerholz, no one wanted to take on Millwood's full salary except for the Phillies. While Schuerholz tried to talk up Estrada, calling him "the total package", it was clear that this was a salary dump, and Estrada was an afterthought.
Estrada was not a prospect, having appeared in 89 games in 2001 and slashing .228/.273/.359, good for a 64 OPS+, and only made a cameo for the 2003 Braves, playing 16 games and slashing .306/.359/.306 in his 39 plate appearances. However, when long-time catcher Javy Lopez left for the Orioles in 2004, the Braves opted to hand Estrada the full-time catcher role, and he did not disappoint.
Through the first half of the season, the switch-hitting catcher slashed .332/.382/.481 (.863 OPS), earning him an All-Star selection as one of three NL catchers. While Estrada faded slightly during the second half of the season, he still slashed .314/.378/.450 with a 113 OPS+, which earned him a Silver Slugger.
It looked like the Braves had a catcher for the future, but unfortunately, a concussion and the emergence of a young prospect named Brian McCann quickly ended his tenure in Atlanta. After the 2005 season, the Braves shipped Estrada to Arizona. The catcher played decently for Arizona, but struggled in subsequent seasons for the Brewers and Nationals, likely due to the concussion he suffered in 2005.
While Estrada's tenure with the Braves was short, he helped the Braves bridge their success at catcher from the early 2000s to the the 2010s and beyond.