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Drake Baldwin

Poll: NL Rookie Of The Year Check-In

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Within the last few years, the Rookie of the Year award has grown to have more meaning than it had in the past. Changes in the most recent collective bargaining agreement allow the award to bestow a full year of MLB service time on the top two finishers, even if they would have otherwise entered the offseason with less than that. Beyond that, any player who was a top-100 prospect on a pair of prominent preseason lists (Baseball America, MLB.com, ESPN) can net his club an extra pick by winning the award if he breaks camp with his club or was called up less than two weeks into the season. That’s raised the stakes on the two Rookie of the Year races, but who will ultimately come out on top?

Here’s a look at this year’s candidates in the National League, listen in alphabetical order by last name:

Drake Baldwin, C, Braves

The 24-year-old Baldwin is having a banner rookie season for Atlanta after an injury suffered by Sean Murphy during Spring Training opened up the Opening Day catcher job. Baldwin took the reins and never looked back. Through 96 games, he’s hitting .276/.347/.454 with a wRC+ of 126. He’s smacked 14 homers in 337 plate appearances, but more impressive is Baldwin’s plate discipline. The youngster is striking out just 16% of the time while walking at a solid 8.9% clip. That production has been enough to get the lion’s share of time behind the plate in spite of Murphy’s status as a former All-Star and Gold Glove award winner on a hefty contract. If there’s an issue with Baldwin’s profile, it’s that he’s a merely pedestrian defender behind the plate. Scouts expected him to be no more than average behind the plate, and so far the metrics have played that out as he has -1 Catching Runs this year according to Statcast. Baldwin and Murphy are now splitting the workload between catcher and DH, so Baldwin should see regular at-bats down the stretch. If he wins the award, he’ll net the Braves a PPI pick.

Isaac Collins, OF, Brewers

Collins celebrated his 28th birthday last month, making him by far the oldest player on this list. He’s been a game changer for an excellent Brewers club in left field, however, with a .270/.368/.421 (125 wRC+) slash line in 109 games. Collins has chipped in 28 extra-base hits and 15 steals and drawn walks at an excellent 12.3% clip. That penchant for drawing walks fuels an on-base percentage that sits just barely outside the top 20 among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances this year. Collins’ age and lack of a premium defensive position could hold him back in the eyes of some voters, but the switch-hitter does have one big thing going for him: he’s doing his best work now. Since the All-Star break, Collins has hit .288/.377/.475 with a wRC+ of 139.

Cade Horton, RHP, Cubs

The Cubs’ first rounder in the 2022 draft, Horton came up to fill out the rotation in a pinch back in May and has generally looked the part of a quality big league starter. He’s pitched to a 2.88 ERA and 3.71 FIP in 93 2/3 innings of work. That’s by far the best ERA among all rookie pitchers with at least 80 innings, and he’s been on the shortlist for the best pitcher in baseball since the All-Star break with a microscopic 0.49 ERA, a 2.61 FIP, and 24.8% strikeout rate. Horton’s season-long strikeout rate of just 20.1% isn’t all that impressive, and his relatively limited innings may hurt him with some voters. Even so, the 24-year-old should get plenty of attention with the way he’s pitched in the second half so far, and a big final month could further cement his case. Horton was a consensus top-100 prospect prior to the season but wasn’t called up early enough to net the Cubs a pick based on this year’s Rookie of the Year voting (though he could still garner them a pick with a top-3 Cy Young finish before reaching arbitration).

Chad Patrick, RHP, Brewers

Patrick might be overlooked by some voters who could be attracted to the strong second half numbers of Collins and Horton. Even so, he’s a legitimate contender for the award. Patrick’s 105 innings across 21 appearances (20 starts) lead NL rookies. He’s posted a 3.60 ERA with a nearly identical 3.68 FIP while striking out 23.9% of his opponents. Perhaps the biggest flaw in Patrick’s case is that the Brewers optioned him to Triple-A for just over a month. He didn’t pitch in the majors between July 5 and Aug. 19. He’s also worn down as the season has gone on, with a 5.09 ERA and 4.45 FIP in his last seven starts. Patrick will need to turn things around in September if he’s going to make a play for the award, but a strong start to his big league career in April and May could be enough to keep him in the conversation.

Other Options

That aforementioned quartet appear to be the likeliest candidates for the award, but they aren’t the only names to consider. Playing time will be a factor for Miami’s Jakob Marsee, but if the 24-year-old can keep hitting the way he has in 26 games since his Aug. 1 recall (.356/.422/.667, 195 wRC+), his otherworldly performance will get some attention anyway. Teammate Agustin Ramirez leads NL rookies in home runs (18) and plate appearances (463), but he’s posted awful defensive marks behind the plate and is sitting on a .287 on-base percentage (.228/.287/.424 overall). Brewers righty Jacob Misiorowski was the talk of the game after his first few starts, but he spent two weeks on the injured list after being clipped by a comebacker and has been tagged for 13 earned runs in his past 14 1/3 innings (four starts). He’s only at 43 2/3 innings on the season, too, which hurts his candidacy.

Hyeseong Kim has been an above-average hitter for the Dodgers and contributed defensive versatility, but he’s been on the injured list for a month and is unlikely to get enough playing time to merit consideration. Nationals righty Brad Lord is in the midst of a solid season as a swingman, but a 5.47 ERA in August does him no favors. Third basemen Caleb Durbin and Matt Shaw have both had decent enough years but are sure to be overshadowed by their teammates when it comes to balloting.

Who do MLBTR readers think will ultimately come out on top in the NL’s Rookie of the Year balloting? Have your say in the poll below:

Who will win NL Rookie of the Year?
Drake Baldwin 45.56% (2,241 votes)
Cade Horton 25.68% (1,263 votes)
Isaac Collins 20.25% (996 votes)
Someone Else 7.32% (360 votes)
Chad Patrick 1.20% (59 votes)
Total Votes: 4,919

Braves Select Drake Baldwin, Hector Neris, Enyel De Los Santos

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The Braves announced Friday that they have selected the contracts of top catching prospect Drake Baldwin and veteran relievers Hector Neris and Enyel De Los Santos. All three have made the Opening Day club and are now on the 40-man roster. Atlanta doesn’t need to make any corresponding moves, as the recent returns of their two Rule 5 picks, this week’s trade of Angel Perdomo and yesterday’s outright of utilityman Luke Williams cleared several spots.

None of the three decisions registers as a surprise. Baldwin, 23, hit .313/.436/.375 in 39 spring plate appearances and was thrust to the top of the catching depth chart when Sean Murphy suffered fractured ribs early in camp. The 2022 third-rounder is widely regarded as one of the sport’s top catching prospects and one of the top 100 farmhands in the entire league. Baldwin will get his first opportunity and should see the lion’s share of playing time ahead of backup Chadwick Tromp while Murphy mends. Atlanta also recently signed James McCann to a minor league deal, but he’ll likely ramp up in Triple-A before he’s truly considered an option.

Neris was a late sign, agreeing to terms on March 3, and has only pitched two official innings so far. He’s gotten work on the back fields and in side sessions, however, and figures to get another inning or two between now and Opening Day. He hasn’t allowed a run in either of his two official appearances thus far.

The 35-year-old righty has a long track record in the majors, primarily with the division-rival Phillies and the Astros. He posted a 1.71 ERA and 31 holds as recently as 2023 in Houston, but he had an uneven showing as the Cubs’ closer in 2024 before being released. Neris saved 17 games with a 3.89 ERA for the Cubs but walked 13.3% of his opponents and also blew five save opportunities. He had something of the opposite play out in a late-season return to Houston; his 28.1% strikeout rate and 3.1% walk rate in 15 1/3 frames were brilliant … but his 4.70 ERA was lackluster. Overall, the veteran righty has a 3.27 ERA in 267 1/3 frames over the past four seasons.

De Los Santos, 25, has had a terrific camp, holding opponents to a pair of runs on just two hits and a walk with seven punchouts in 6 2/3 frames. He posted a 5.20 ERA in 64 innings spread across three teams last year, but he’s a six-year veteran who turned in a combined 3.18 earned run average in 119 innings for the Guardians from 2022-23. De Los Santos only has 4.015 years of major league service, so if he bounces back this year in Atlanta, he’ll be controllable through the 2026 season via arbitration.

Braves Release Curt Casali, Reassign Sandy León To Minor League Camp

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The Braves announced yesterday that catcher Curt Casali was reassigned to minor league camp. They announced the same with Sandy León today. Casali has been released, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com.

It now seems highly likely that prospect Drake Baldwin will break camp with the club. Atlanta hasn’t made any firm announcements but Sean Murphy is going to start the season on the injured list due to a cracked rib. That leaves Chadwick Tromp as the only healthy catcher on the 40-man roster, meaning Atlanta needs to add someone. Casali and Leon were in camp as NRIs but that is no longer the case. Unless Atlanta brings in a catcher from outside the organization, then it seems like Baldwin will get an Opening Day job.

Baldwin, 24 this month, is one of the top catching prospects in the game. A third-round pick in the 2022 draft, he split last year between Double-A and Triple-A. He got into 124 games in total, including 72 at the top minor league level. Combined, he had a 13.1% walk rate and 17.2% strikeout rate on the year. He hit 16 home runs and slashed .276/.370/.423 for a 119 wRC+.

Coming into 2025, Baldwin is a consensus top 100 prospect. Baseball America currently has him in the #53 spot, noting that he profiles as a competent defender who is getting strong reviews for his work with pitchers.

Atlanta turned down a club option on Travis d’Arnaud at the start of the offseason, leaving Murphy and Tromp as the two catchers on the roster. Murphy’s injury opened a path for Baldwin to earn a job to start the season. He has certainly done everything he can to take advantage of that opportunity. He enters today with a spring batting line of .370/.485/.444.

That will seemingly be enough to get him a crack at the big leagues, at least to start the season. When Murphy suffered his cracked rib in early March, it was announced that he would be out of action for four to six weeks. He could therefore be back on the field in April but will likely need a bit of a rehab assignment to effectively redo his spring training.

While he does that, the team will see how Baldwin does against major league pitching. If he does well, perhaps he and Murphy could share the catching duties going forward, though Tromp is out of options. That means he would need to be removed from the 40-man roster, unless the club wants to carry three catchers when Murphy is healthy. But even the best prospects sometimes struggle when first promoted to the majors. If that happens with Baldwin, he can be optioned back to Triple-A while Murphy and Tromp handle things. For now, Baldwin will need a 40-man roster spot, though that could be easily accomplished by putting Joe Jiménez on the 60-day injured list.

Casali, 36, was in camp on a minor league deal. He’s been in the big leagues for over a decade now, generally providing solid defense with flashes of offense, though he hasn’t hit much in the past two years. He had a career batting line of .223/.316/.392 and 92 wRC+ at the end of the 2022 season, but he has slashed .186/.292/.229 over the past two campaigns for a 52 wRC+. His struggles have continued into this spring. He has 15 plate appearances in camp with Atlanta with no hits, no walks and seven strikeouts. The only time he reached base was on a hit-by-pitch.

That’s a small sample but obviously not a good showing, especially when compared to what Baldwin has been up to. Casali is an Article XX(B) free agent, meaning that he has at least six years of service time and finished last season on a major league roster or injured list. That means he has guaranteed opt-out dates on his minor league deal: five days before Opening Day, May 1 and June 1.

Since he wasn’t going to break camp with Atlanta, he was likely going to opt out and look for other opportunities. The club has seemingly let him go a bit early, allowing him to get a headstart on finding his next gig.

Despite his rough spring, he should get interest based on his track record. There are several clubs around the league with injury concerns. The Mets are going to be without Francisco Alvarez for a while. The Reds will start the season with Tyler Stephenson on the IL and Jose Trevino is banged up as well. The Giants have Patrick Bailey behind the plate but Tom Murphy will start the year on the IL and won’t be able to back him up. Casali could perhaps find a fresh minor league deal with one of those clubs or circle back to Atlanta after making a few calls.

Poll: Will The Braves Add A Catcher?

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At the outset of the offseason, the Braves made a surprising move to decline their club option on veteran catcher Travis d’Arnaud despite prior indications being that they’d planned to exercise the option. Things turned out just fine for d’Arnaud, who signed a two-year deal with the Angels shortly thereafter, but the decision came back to bite Atlanta when starting catcher Sean Murphy suffered a cracked rib that will keep him out of action through at least the middle of April.

When Murphy missed time due to an oblique issue last year, d’Arnaud was there to step in as a capable regular option. This year, they’ll have no such ready-made answer locked and loaded on the roster. That’s not to say the club has no internal options; youngster Drake Baldwin is a well-regarded prospect who already seemed likely to make his MLB debut at some point this year, and Chadwick Tromp was already in line to make the roster as the club’s backup catcher. Baldwin has raked this spring to the tune of a .368/.520/.474 slash line, and perhaps that’s enough to convince Atlanta brass to give him the reins for the start of the season while Murphy recovers.

However, it’s hardly a reliable solution to the issue. Baldwin has yet to take a major league at-bat, and he struggled offensively at the Double-A level just last year before turning his season around upon his promotion to Triple-A. And if Baldwin proves unprepared to handle the big leagues, Tromp isn’t a viable starting option. The soon to be 30-year-old backstop has just 59 games and 156 plate appearances under his belt over parts of five seasons in the majors. In that time, he’s hit just .232/.237/.397 with a wRC+ of 66. While it’s not impossible to imagine more regular playing time in the majors allowing Tromp to perform better, 47 catchers produced more offense that Tromp’s career numbers across at least 100 plate appearances in the majors last year.

The Braves do have a pair of non-roster invitees in camp who could step in, but neither inspires confidence. Sandy Leon didn’t play in the majors at all last year, last had even 100 plate appearances in a season back in 2021, and is a career .208/.276/.311 hitter. Fellow NRI Curt Casali has a somewhat stronger track record, having played at least 40 games in the majors every year since 2018 (excluding the 60-game 2020 season where he appeared in 31 games for the Reds), but hit just .194/.293/.250 for the Giants in 125 trips to the plate last year.

Given all of the uncertainty facing Atlanta, an external addition can’t be ruled out. It’s been reported that the club made an offer to Yasmani Grandal even prior to Murphy’s injury. While Grandal turned that deal down, it signals the club already had reservations about its catching depth and it’s at least possible that the sides could circle back to each other with Opening Day fast approaching and additional playing time having opened up for Grandal.

Other options on the free agent market are few and far between. James McCann and Yan Gomes remain unsigned, but other options could emerge in the coming days as veterans on minor league deals with other teams begin to get the opportunity to opt out and return to free agency.

Jorge Alfaro, Omar Narvaez, and Tucker Barnhart are among the veterans in camp with other clubs who could return to free agency if they don’t make their current club’s Opening Day roster. It’s also at least possible that a club with an excess of catching options on the 40-man roster like the Twins could either make one of their backstops available on waivers or via trade, though trades of particular note are quite rare at this stage of the calendar. While none of the options likely to be available are game changers, they could offer a higher floor than any of Atlanta’s current options and allow the club to avoid rushing Baldwin to the majors.

How do you think the Braves will approach the situation? Will they take Murphy’s injury as an opportunity to give Baldwin regular playing time and stand pat with their internal options, or will they instead look to upgrade over a potential tandem of Baldwin and Tromp by bringing in a more reliable veteran to help handle the pitching staff? Have your say in the poll below:

Will Atlanta bring in a catcher while Murphy is injured?
No, they'll stick with who they have in-house. 64.46% (2,497 votes)
Yes, they'll add someone else to the mix. 35.54% (1,377 votes)
Total Votes: 3,874
Show all

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