Drake

Baldwin

Dropping Baldwin from the top of the order against lefties seems like the right call. Harris is sort of a surprising choice to lead off against a lefty, but he has been pretty successful against them this year, hitting .281/.319/.468. Harris has been batting cleanup against righties and fifth or sixth versus lefties.

Baldwin is hitting .244/.280/321 in August, and his season OPS fell under .800 today. The Braves could try moving him down a few spots in the order until he resumes doing a better job of getting on base. The occasional day off against a lefty wouldn’t be a bad idea, either; he’s been in the Braves lineup as a catcher or DH every game since June 24.

Baldwin’s home run was his 21st of the season. He hit a solo shot off Zebby Matthews in the sixth inning. Baldwin is 18-for-54 (.333) with one home run and six RBI over his last 13 games. He’s hitting .278 with an .820 OPS and 63 RBI on the season.

Baldwin got the scoring started with an RBI single in the bottom of the third before swiping second base to remove the double-play threat. The 25-year-old has put together a remarkably similar campaign to his rookie year, validating his strong debut. The difference this season has been playing time. Baldwin has started every game since June 26, mostly hitting in the top two lineup spots, which is rare for a catcher. He’s the most valuable backstop in dynasty formats and will come off the board as one of the top options at the position in 2027 redraft leagues.

Baldwin started this game with a lead-off single and the Braves didn’t put another runner on base until the fourth inning. After that, they hit one more measly single in the seventh and went the whole game without putting a runner in scoring position. Nevertheless, Baldwin has cemented himself as one of the best offensive catchers in baseball with a .274 batting average, 20 home runs, and .809 OPS.

Baldwin’s two-run single capped off a three-run second inning that gave the Braves all the breathing room they’d need in a win over the Marlins. That pushed him to 59 RBI through just 91 games this season while a good chunk of his games have come as a lead-off hitter. He also has 20 home runs and a .272/.363/.462 slash line as he’s emerged as one of the best young hitters in the game.

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.