Drake Baldwin looked like he was barreling toward a monster season in Atlanta. By May 18, the Braves catcher was hitting .303/.389/.543 with 13 home runs, and at that point it was fair to wonder whether he might even work his way into the NL MVP conversation.
That version of the story didn’t last.
When the finalists for the Louisville Slugger® Silver Slugger Awards were revealed, Baldwin was nowhere to be found among the National League catcher finalists. Instead, Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman and Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno got the nod.
The Silver Slugger Awards honor the top hitters at each position in both leagues, with MLB managers and coaches doing the voting. Baldwin entered the race looking like a strong bet to at least make the finalist list at catcher, but his season didn’t hold up well enough down the stretch to keep him there.
The numbers still show a player who belonged in the mix. Among NL catchers, Baldwin finished second in wRC+ at 126 and second in fWAR at 3.3. But awards voting doesn’t always live in the world of advanced metrics alone, and Baldwin’s case took a hit when the production cooled off.
A mid-May oblique injury cost him a month, and while he was solid after coming back, he never really matched the early-season blast. Over the final 90 games of 2026, Baldwin posted a .756 OPS, which left the door open for others to pass him. Goodman’s 41 homers made a loud statement, and other catcher names, including former Brave William Contreras, may have pulled votes away as well.
Moreno’s season was strong enough that Baldwin might have been left out anyway, even if he had kept raking the way he did in April and early May. But once the hot start faded, the Braves catcher made the race far closer than it should have been. That’s how a player can go from looking like a near-lock to being left off the finalist list entirely.
In Other News...
Braves May Be Headed For An Offseason Fans Never Expected
The Braves are staring at an offseason that could look a lot different than the one fans had in mind, with the clubs recent slide forcing a harder look at the roster than anyone expected a few months ago. The conversation is no longer just about minor tweaks or depth moves. It has drifted into the kind of broader roster reshaping that usually only comes up when a team feels a real need to reset parts of its core.
Among the names being discussed are Ronald Acua Jr. and a group of prospects that includes JR Ritchie, Cam Caminiti, Eric Hartman and Tate Southisene. Atlanta is not seriously planning to move Acua, but the possibility of at least listening if an overwhelming offer surfaced is part of the backdrop now, which tells you how wide the range of this winter could be. The prospect side of the discussion is just as revealing, because the Braves would be weighing present help against future value in a way that could define the next phase of the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Earnings Report Reveals One Key Test For New Broadcast Plan
Atlanta Braves Holdings latest earnings report offered a first look at how the clubs new broadcast setup is settling in after a quarter that ended Sept. 30. Baseball-related revenues rose 4% to $295.5 million from a year ago, helped by a home schedule that included 42 games and drew an average of 26,998 fans per date, a reminder that the on-field product and the ballpark experience still drive the business in a big way.
The more interesting test, though, is still ahead. Media revenues dipped 4% in the quarter as the teams new BravesVision subsidiary handled broadcasts and streaming duties, and the company is now trying to prove that the switch can perform on the same level as the old arrangement over the full year. For a franchise that has spent years building around both its baseball brand and its media reach, the next stretch will say plenty about whether this new model can hold up financially. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Still Face One Big Ozzie Albies Question
The Braves have already taken care of one part of Ozzie Albies future by exercising his team option for 2027, giving the second baseman a measure of security in a season where the roster around him could still be in flux. For Atlanta, that matters because Albies has been a central piece of the clubs core for years, and any discussion about his place in the lineup carries extra weight when the front office is thinking about how to keep the window open.
Even with the option picked up, Albies situation is not exactly settled in the long view. His offensive struggles have prompted speculation that the Braves could look at moving him as part of a broader effort to reshape the core, and his future could still end up being decided by a trade or by free agency next offseason. For now, the contract is in place, but the bigger question around his role in Atlanta remains very much alive. [Read more 🡒]