The Atlanta Braves had one of the top catching tandems in baseball from 2022 through 2024, especially once All-Star Sean Murphy joined Travis D'Arnaud behind the plate in Atlanta (starting in 2023). Over those three years, the Braves led the National League in fWAR at the catching position with 15.5, trailing only the Toronto Blue Jays for the major league lead.
Unfortunately for the Braves, D'Arnaud left in free agency over the winter, and it was just recently announced that Sean Murphy will open the regular season on the injured list with a cracked rib.
Sean Murphy to hit the injured list for 4-6 weeks
Murphy was hit by a pitch in the back during a game against the Marlins in spring training, which is the likely cause of the injury.
Brian Snitker announced that Sean Murphy will be out 4-6 due to a cracked rib pic.twitter.com/FzQq6IxGy9
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 3, 2025
This news wouldn't be as concerning for Braves fans if it had not come after a 2024 season in which Murphy was constantly battling the injury bug. Murphy had to open the 2024 regular season on the injured list as well after sustaining a strained oblique which put him out until May 27th.
He only managed to play 69 games, and his performance left much to be desired as he posted just a .636 OPS and a 78 wRC+.
Prior to 2024, Murphy had established himself as one of the top catchers in the game since his debut with the Athletics in 2019. From 2019 to 2023, Murphy ranked third in fWAR among catchers (15.4), while ranking within the top ten in home runs (67), OPS (.778), and wRC+ (119).
Getting Murphy healthy and ready for a bounce-back season was one of Atlanta's top priorities for 2025. Now, the Braves are without both backstops that played big roles for the organization during their recent run of success.
Top catching prospect lined up to fill starting role for Braves
The major league options for the Braves at the moment are Chadwick Tromp, who caught just 19 games in 2024 while logging a .625 OPS and a 68 wRC+, and Curt Casali and Sandy Leon who are both at spring training on minor league contracts. All three options are less than ideal in a full-time role for a team looking to return to World Series contention.
The good news for the Braves is that their potential solution is right in front of them. This player not only has what it takes to fill in for the short-term, but he certainly has the potential to be the answer for the long-term as the team's starting backstop.
Drake Baldwin is the top prospect in Atlanta's system and the seventh-highest ranked catching prospect (#62 overall) by MLB Pipeline.
Baldwin will soon be 24 years old and was drafted in the third round of the 2022 draft out of Missouri State. Since entering the organization, Baldwin has made a pretty smooth climb through the minors, but really started to gain a lot of attention during the All-Star break last year where he hit a 411-foot opposite field home run during the Futures Game.
411-foot oppo taco off the bat of Drake Baldwin!@Braves | @GoStripers | #FuturesGame pic.twitter.com/KKTiJoL1TD
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 13, 2024
In 2024, Baldwin split time at Double-A Columbus and Triple-A Gwinnett, posting a .276/.370/.423 slash line with 16 home runs over 551 plate appearances. He performed very well in Triple-A where he ranked fourth in OPS (.891) and third in wRC+ (135) among catchers.
Baldwin's outlook as a major league catcher
The bat for Baldwin is not generational by any means, but he does enough at the plate to lead me to believe it will play at the big league level and can hold its own in the bottom half of a loaded Braves lineup.
He has a solid combination of plate discipline and contact skills paired with some sneaky pop. He walked nearly as much as he struck out (52 BB/54 K) at Triple-A, and landed well above-average in multiple power metrics. He's a pretty safe bet considering what he can also provide defensively.
Baldwin has graded out as a fairly average defensive catcher, but has recently received a lot of praise for the improvements he has made across all aspects of his defensive game. Sean Murphy is one of the best defensive catchers in the game, giving Baldwin big shoes to fill.
Murphy's ability to handle the pitching staff and call games has been regarded as elite and is something that will take time for Baldwin to learn, but he has the makeup and work ethic to learn the skills needed to do so.
Baldwin has received plenty of playing time at Spring Training and has looked the part as well, both as a hitter and as a defender.
In his 17 plate appearances thus far, he has an .856 OPS while not striking out or recording a single whiff — that includes an at bat against Sandy Alcantara in which he singled.
With that being said, all signs point to Drake Baldwin earning the nod as the Opening Day catcher. Even if the Braves were to end up adding a catcher to fill in for Murphy via free agency or the trade market, Baldwin will almost certainly debut at some point in 2025 as he becomes Rule 5 Draft eligible following the season and will need to be added to the 40-man roster.