Drake Baldwin has won the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year Award
after a lovely season that saw him play a major role in helping to make sure that the boat that was the 2025 Atlanta Braves didn’t capsize completely. It’s tough to imagine where the Braves would’ve been without him holding down the fort at the backstop position on a regular basis and quite frankly, I wouldn’t want to think long about that type of scenario.Still, as awesome as Drake Baldwin was on the field, nobody gets this far without help.
When Baldwin spoke to the press following the announcement of the Award, he was very effusive towards his veteran teammates who helped him get this far. In fact, Baldwin was actually at Spencer Schwellenbach’s house when he heard the news and took questions afterwards. Baldwin was asked about the impact that Chris Sale had on his game and the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year had plenty to say about the ace of Atlanta’s staff.
“With his gameplan […] he thinks his stuff is better than everyone and he proves that it is year in and year out,” stated Baldwin about Sale. The standout rookie immediately went into a situation from Opening Day in San Diego when the Padres were threatening to break the game open in the very first inning of the season. “When he has the confidence to trust what I’m putting down in certain situations, huge situations […] even the first start — he might not even remember this and that’s fine but I still remember it,” Drake said as he went on to detail how the scenario played out.
“It was a tough first inning and we started using his change-up to get out of it,” explained Baldwin. “[Sale] came in the dugout and [told me] ‘I like the change-up call. Great job using it,’ and I was like ‘I was just kinda trying some new stuff out.’ When he said that and I was like ‘Wow, this is pretty cool.’ It definitely gave me some confidence there that I can do it up there and what I’m seeing I can believe in.” Drake Baldwin was clearly inspired by the simple encouragement that Sale threw in there right from the start of the season and it’s clear that Baldwin carried it with him throughout the entire season. “When a guy like that is complimenting what you’re doing — especially when he was having a bit of a tough inning there — a lot of credit goes to him and I don’t know if he realizes how big of an impact that had on me,” stated Baldwin.
Baldwin was also asked about the impact that guys like Sean Murphy and Sandy León had on him as he navigated his first season. “You see how they go about their business…just seeing how they operate in a day-to-day life in the big leagues,” said Baldwin. “It’s something you can’t really emulate until you get there […] Whenever I had a question, they’ve answered it for me and they’ve gone out of their way to answer questions for me and to help me with certain things and if they see anything to help me […] It’s been a lot.”
Drake Baldwin couldn’t really go into specifics with the leadership and advice that he received from the veterans but he did make sure to emphasize that they certainly played a big role in helping him become the first catcher since Buster Posey in 2010 to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award. “I don’t know if there’s a specific thing that stands out most but they’ve been a huge help throughout,” concluded Baldwin. That type of leadership from the vets in the dugout explains why they’re there — while León was never going to be super productive at the big-league level during his short stints there, the experience he passed on to guys like Baldwin was priceless and something that is still valuable
The media also asked Drake Baldwin about whether or not he talked to the other three Rookies of the Year in Atlanta’s clubhouse right now: Michael Harris II in 2022, Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2018 and then 1988 Rookie of the Year and new Braves manager Walt Weiss. “I talked to Mike the other day,” explained Baldwin. “Right now, my phone’s kind of just […] I don’t even know how it’s still working. I’ve still got to talk to them about it, though.” He’s clearly a busy man who’s in a ton of demand at the moment, so his phone blowing up with texts and calls makes all the sense in the world.
The Braves have another Rookie of the Year on their hands and it’s proof that while the past couple of seasons have been below the standard that’s usually been expected of Atlanta during this current window, there’s still plenty of talent on the roster that makes this steam something to be taken seriously going forward. Hopefully we’ll get to see Drake Baldwin build upon this and turn in a fantastic career so that this NL Rookie of the Year Award is seen as a stepping stone instead of the peak for him.
