Drake Baldwin leading off Wednesday vs. Cardinals

Not only is Acuña Jr. at the top of the lineup, but he’s right back into the outfield, which is a great sign for his health. Drake Baldwin will DH this game and hit second, with Joey Bart starting behind the dish and hitting eighth.

Baldwin also scored three runs, and both homers were solo shots. The 25-year-old took Nathan Eovaldi deep for the first blast — one of three homers Eovaldi allowed in the contest — and he took Ben People deep for his 18th homer of his strong sophomore campaign. Baldwin is also up to six stolen bases on the year, and his slump in the latter portion of June appears to be well over.

Baldwin got the scoring going for the Braves in the second inning when he singled to drive home Dominic Smith to put his team up 1-0. He would break things open for the Braves in the fourth inning when he blasted a three-run homer off of Cal Quantrill to give the Braves a 5-0 lead, and drove in one more run in the fifth inning to cap a stellar performance. Baldwin is now sitting on 16 homers for the season and is well on pace to crush his rookie total of 19.

Baldwin’s slam off Huascar Brazobán came as part of a six-run ninth inning in which the Braves almost overcame a seven-run deficit. It was his first homer since June 16, when he went deep in his first at-bat off the injured list. He’d been 4-for-59 with no extra-base hits, no RBI and a 24/3 K/BB since that homer. What he clearly needs is more at-bats with the bases loaded; today’s slam was his first, but he’s 10-for-17 with five walks and just one strikeout lifetime with the sacks jacked.

Baldwin crushed a homer in his first at-bat back from the injured list 10 days ago, but since then, he’s gone 1-for-31 with 19 strikeouts. He did hit sixth Tuesday, but that was against a lefty. This is the first time he’s hit lower than second versus a righty this year. The Braves have Michael Harris II and Mauricio Dubón occupying the top two spots tonight.

Baldwin has gone 1-for-29 with 18 strikeouts since homering in his first at-bat back from the injured list on June 16. The 25-year-old burgeoning fantasy stalwart has struggled to regain his timing at the dish after ostensibly skipping a minor league rehab assignment. He’ll get a break to reset mentally prior to Friday’s series opener against San Francisco with Joey Bart handling the catching duties. Baldwin feels like a phenomenal buy-low candidate in shallow fantasy leagues at the moment.

Baldwin has gone 1-for-25 with an eye-popping 15 strikeouts across six games since homering in his first at-bat back from the injured list last week. The 25-year-old rising star has looked out of sync at the dish after basically skipping a minor league rehab assignment. It might take him a few extra games to knock off the rust and get his timing back, which is why he’s been moved down in Atlanta’s lineup for the moment.

Camargo provides Atlanta with some extra insurance behind Sandy León with Drake Baldwin at DH for Wednesday’s nightcap at Truist Park. The 26-year-old backstop hasn’t appeared in the majors since getting into five games for the Twins during the 2024 campaign. His presence pretty much confirms that the Braves want to avoid having Baldwin behind the plate coming off an oblique strain.

Baldwin crushed a ball 473 feet off Adrian Houser last night before play was suspended. He did not fare as well Wednesday after play resumed, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Given that he’s already caught seven innings today, if Baldwin plays in the regularly scheduled game tonight, it’ll probably be as a DH.

It’ll be resumed on Wednesday afternoon in the second inning. The rain kept falling throughout the early stages of this contest at Truist Park and both teams waited through a nearly two-hour rain delay before the plug was finally pulled. Giants starter Adrian Houser allowed two runs in his lone inning of work while Atlanta’s Grant Holmes was charged with three runs over two innings. It’s also worth noting that Drake Baldwin launched a legendary 473-foot homer in his return from the injured list prior to the delay.