Drake Baldwin was well on his way to starting for the National League in this summer's All-Star Game before his unfortunate oblique injury. While the Atlanta Braves' young catcher may still make it to Philadelphia, Atlanta is being understandably cautious with their 25-year-old superstar.
Slow-playing Baldwin's return is much easier when the team keeps winning games. However, the winning streak Atlanta is on has not happened because of some magical production from their replacement catchers. In fact, the production from Atlanta's catchers has dipped so much that it further proves how valuable Baldwin is to this team.
Drake Baldwin is out here doing running drills this afternoon as he ramps back up
— Harrison Smajovits (@HarrisonSmaj) June 5, 2026
Walt Weiss recently said he could be back during the next #Braves homestand pic.twitter.com/v6a6HsAQdY
Braves catchers are putting up some abysmal numbers since Drake Baldwin's injury
Before his injury, Baldwin was near the top of the leaderboard in an abundance of statistical categories. Through 48 games, Baldwin had a 160 wRC+ and 2.2 fWAR, both of which were good enough to rank in the top eight across baseball through May 18.
In the 17 games since Baldwin's injury, Braves' catchers have a .091/.089/.109 slash line, -47 wRC+, 35.1 K%, and -0.7 fWAR. For comparison, Jon Lester (who was one of the worst hitting pitchers of his generation) posted a .065/.108/.065 slash line, -60 wRC+, 42.3 K%, and -0.5 fWAR as a hitter in 2015.
Atlanta going from a 160 wRC+ to -47 wRC+ in offensive catcher production is a steeper drop-off than the Astros taking Yordan Alvarez (league-leading 193 wRC+) completely off their roster. Baldwin's 2.2 fWAR had the Braves virtually tied with Baltimore in fWAR leaderboards from their catchers through May 18. In his absence, Atlanta's catcher fWAR has dropped to 1.3, placing them 10th in baseball. Meanwhile, the Orioles have continued to hold the top spot, rising to 3.2 fWAR entering Monday.
The numbers are brutal, but honestly, they were to be expected. Especially when you consider the loss of Sean Murphy throughout this timeframe as well. Veteran Sandy León has garnered most of the starts these past few weeks, although Atlanta did add Austin Wynns in recent days in hopes he can prove more serviceable as a hitter.
The good news is the Braves keep winning despite the offensive black hole coming out of the catcher's spot. Additionally, manager Walt Weiss seemed optimistic Baldwin could return during Atlanta's next home stand, so fans may not be tortured much longer with Sandy Leon at-bats.
Add us as a preferred source on Google