Headed into the 2024 season, catcher Drake Baldwin entered the year on the fringe of the MLB.com Atlanta Braves Top 30 Prospects list. The Madison, Wisconsin native had just come off a breakout campaign during his first full season of minor league baseball in which he saw time at three levels, including a three-game stint with Triple-A Gwinnett.

One year later, the spotlight on the now 24-year-old has grown bigger than it ever has.

The Braves’ third round pick in the 2022 Draft began last season with Double-A Mississippi where through June 18, he ranked fourth in the Southern League with 33 RBIs. Following 52 games with the M-Braves, Baldwin fought his way back to the International League where he proved he was there to stay.

All the catchers’ offensive numbers surged despite the improvement in competition. Baldwin’s average rose from .244 to .298, he slugged 12 home runs in Gwinnett compared to four in Mississippi and his walk rate jumped 9.2 percent.

The Missouri State product credits his uncomplicated approach for his late season jump.

“Just simplifying everything and trying to focus on hitting when I’m up there rather than mechanics,” Baldwin said. “It’s the approach of yes-yes-no when I’m hitting and making it me against the pitcher and just competing every at-bat.”

Stripers’ manager Kanekoa Texeira was at the helm during Baldwin’s return to Gwinnett, but it wasn’t the first time the two had been paired up. In 2023, Texeira was the lead-man for Double-A Mississippi where he was joined by Baldwin for 14 games.

Texeira noted how he saw a more well-rounded catcher when Baldwin came back to Gwinnett for a second go-round.

“He’s gotten a lot better with his hitting and same with his catching,” Texeira said. “Even from last year when he came from Double-A to here [Gwinnett], his at-bats got better and behind the plate, his framing and his arm got stronger. Wiggy [Coach Wigberto Nevarez] did a great job with him in the catching aspect of the game”

The jump in production boosted Baldwin’s prospect status from being ranked as the Braves No. 28 prospect at the beginning of 2024 to No. 5 by the end.

During his time in Gwinnett, Baldwin had the chance to learn firsthand from players who had been at that level before.

“You have guys who are former all-stars and big leaguers for multiple years so it’s pretty special,” Baldwin said. “You get to learn what a big leaguer does to be at the top of their game, and you try to learn as much as you can from them. Playing against other guys who are up and down from the big leagues, it definitely feels like a taste of the big leagues with some of the competition and some of the names that’s there.”

Among the list of players with MLB experience who were in Gwinnett came a pair who both played the same position as Baldwin.

Chadwick Tromp and Sandy León entered 2024 with a combined 600 MLB games played. Tromp appeared in the majorsin every season since 2020 including that very year in Atlanta before rejoining Gwinnett. Meanwhile, the 2024 season marked the first time since 2011 where León had not played at the big-league level.

Being gifted the opportunity to work with both veterans every day in Gwinnett benefited Baldwin greatly as he developed a strong bond with both men.

“Doing catching work with them, in between innings asking them questions about pitch sequencing and calling, seeing what their routines are and keeping their bodies right cause it’s tough as a catcher to stay feeling good and stay healthy and on the field for that long,” Baldwin said. “So, trying to learn as much as I can from them, I created a great relationship with both of them and they’ve helped me a ton. I would go to them with any question I had, and they had a great answer.”

Baldwin’s improved play in Gwinnett, which included hitting .309 with six homers from his promotion date to the All-Star break, led to an invite to the 2024 Futures Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Becoming the first Gwinnett player to make the Futures Game since 2021, Baldwin one-upped that accomplishment by homering in the game to help lead the National League to a 6-1 victory.

The Futures Game was Baldwin’s first chance to play with and against some of the top prospects in the sport. He wouldn’t have to wait long for another one.

His stellar season would continue into the offseason with an invite to the Arizona Fall League where he played alongside fellow Braves prospects on the Peoria Javelinas. In 13 games, Baldwin finished fourth in the league with a .377 average and ninth with a .452 on-base percentage.

“There was a lot of young talent there, so it was cool being able to experience it,” Baldwin said. “I’m sure a ton of those guys are going to end up being in the big leagues pretty soon. Getting to play some of those guys and facing good arms was definitely cool. Arizona is a great place that time of year, so it was a lot of fun getting to play there.”

Baldwin left Arizona following the Fall Stars break but he wasn’t done playing baseball in 2024 just yet. The catcher was selected to Team USA in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WSBC) Premiere12 tournament, granting him the opportunity to play baseball in both Mexico and Japan.

Joining the team midway through the Opening Round, Baldwin appeared in six games and collected three hits as he helped Team USA capture a bronze medal over Venezuela. The win marked the country’s first medal in the tournament since winning silver in 2015.

Baldwin played in front of crowds as large as 25,000 when the U.S. played Japan in the Tokyo Dome during the Super Round. This gave the young catcher a chance to see what a postseason atmosphere could look like in the future.

“It was a ton of fun,” said Baldwin. “They were some of the most intense games I’ve been a part of. I was locked into every pitch, which is a cool feeling because you don’t want to let your country down. Playing in Tokyo, they take baseball like no other over there. Rich Hill on our team was saying it is comparable to playing in a playoff atmosphere. I’m super happy I did it.”

Following the conclusion of the tournament on November 24, Baldwin had continuously played competitive baseball for arguably the longest stretch of his life. During that time, he was able to develop a strong routine to stay ready for each game.

“There’s some days where you wake up and you’re pretty tired, sore and beat up but once you get to the field and into the game it’s all fun from there,” Baldwin said. “Having that drive to keep on getting better every day even when you don’t feel great. It’s a long year, it’s just getting your routines to make everything else better, being consistent with them and doing them day in and day out.”

In the brief pause to his schedule before Spring Training, Baldwin took the time to rebuild his relationships back home.

“It was about giving the body a break, going back home to see family and friends for the first time in a while,” Baldwin said. “I took a week or two off from baseball and I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I got back into it. I know that’s a good thing because it means you love the game. It was great to see friends and family but then it was go time and getting ready to go to spring training and be the best version of myself there.”

That time finally came on February 2 when Baldwin reported to the Braves Spring Training facility in North Port, Florida.

Entering his third camp with the big-league club, the goal has remained the same for Baldwin.

“I’m going in there to show the best side of me being around those major league coaches and higher ups day in and day out,” Baldwin said. “Even with the major league team and trying to learn what I can from them. It started off not feeling too different, being at a higher level I was trying to prove myself a little more but it’s still going in there and showing trying to do what I can do every day.”

That comes despite the increased media attention which saw Baldwin ranked both as the Atlanta Braves top prospect and No. 62 on the MLB.com Top 100 list.

“You see it, it definitely gives me a little bit of confidence knowing that I’m doing the right things to be seen by some of those writers and other teams,” Baldwin said. “I still feel like the same person that’s still going in there every day trying to improve every way you can. You just have to make it about yourself, there’s a lot of outside noise, but going in there and winning ball games is what matters and that’s by being healthy and being the best player I can be.”

As Spring Training went on, it became clear that Baldwin’s up-and-comer status wasn’t the only reason more baseball fans have looked his way.

On March 3, it was announced that Braves all-star catcher Sean Murphy suffered a cracked left rib and would miss approximately four to six weeks.

With that injury set to eat into the start of the regular season, Baldwin suddenly found himself fighting for a spot on the Braves Opening Day roster.

After hitting for a .286 average and drawing twice as many walks compared to strikeouts in 17 spring training games, Baldwin would win that coveted spot on the Atlanta roster where he is set to make his MLB debut for the team that drafted him.

The decision by the Braves wasn’t surprising to Texeira as he hopes not to cross paths with the youngster this season in Gwinnett.

“Looking at the spring he had, I wasn’t too shocked,” Texeira said. “Once Murphy got hurt, we had a couple of options and seeing what he was doing I noticed he had a chance. All of us are really excited and hopefully we don’t see him again.”

With Baldwin filling the void of a former All-Star and Gold-Glove winner in Murphy to begin the season in Atlanta, he hopes to be approachable with the Braves pitching staff and be there whenever he’s needed with the goal of building a strong relationship.

“Being open to talk with them, eating with them in the cafeteria, learning about their life outside the field,” Baldwin said. “Just building that trust and working hard, being prepared when they ask you questions about scouting reports and comfortability behind the plate, doing the catching work I can get the most amount of strikes called for them.”

Having reached the major league level himself as a pitcher, Texeira is familiar with some of the jitters that come with reaching the show. However, Texeira believes that Baldwin’s calm personality should allow him to navigate those early nerves.

“He’s a happy-going kid. He’s one of those smooth rollers; nothing really fazes him,” Texeira said. “Hopefully he continues that up there, obviously a lot more fans there but I think he’ll be fine and great behind the plate.”

With Baldwin set for his rookie season at the highest level, he aims to be true to himself in Atlanta.

“I think I’ve had some success, so I don’t want to change too much mentally,” Baldwin said. “I was on the right path and doing the right things to get to this point. It’s going in there and being as good as I can personally be every day and doing everything I can do to elevate my game.”