00:00Drake Baldwin, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, who has been one of the best hitters in baseball,
00:04and Liam Hicks, who with a two-run double last night, reclaimed the MLB lead in runs batted in.
00:11Want to start with Baldwin to get the negative news out of the way first.
00:15Drake Baldwin has been one of the best players in Major League Baseball so far this year.
00:18He's top 10 in baseball and RBIs. He's got an OPS over 900.
00:22Had himself a nice night on Monday, but was removed from the game early.
00:25It was a game that Atlanta lost 12-0, but it turns out Drake Baldwin is hitting the shelf with
00:30a strained right oblique.
00:34A slurry of roster moves for Atlanta.
00:40You had Aaron Bummer released. You had J.R. Ritchie optioned.
00:45You had Dylan Dodd reinstated. You had Victor Maderos promoted.
00:50Acuna came off the shelf on Monday night.
00:53And then you've got Drake Baldwin hitting the AIL with an oblique issue here.
00:58But just brutal news for Baldwin.
01:00And honestly, brutal news for Atlanta, despite being the best team in baseball.
01:03They're down two all-star caliber catchers in Baldwin and Sean Murphy.
01:07Yeah, and it's what? It's Sandy Leon now and Chadwick Trump.
01:12I mean, the way this team's playing, they'll be fine.
01:15But, I mean, also just brutal luck for Sean Murphy.
01:18I just feel so bad for them because this would have been the spot where it's like,
01:21okay, at least we have Sean Murphy. And Sean Murphy's like,
01:23I've waited a long time to be able to, you know, get back in there consistently.
01:26And we're talking about how do you split it up with these guys?
01:28And now Murphy could get back into regular reps.
01:30And unfortunately not with the fractured finger right when he came back.
01:34Baldwin, dude, like the more I watch this guy,
01:37and you know how high we were on him as a prospect,
01:40how much we liked him going into his rookie season.
01:44This guy might be one of the more balanced, and we've talked about him.
01:48I know Hembo talked about him as like the baby Yordan profile,
01:50and I really can't escape that.
01:54Just watch this guy hit.
01:55And I think the biggest thing that I take away from it is it doesn't matter
01:59how gnarly the left-on-left matchup is.
02:02He's better.
02:02He crushes the ball.
02:03It's a laser.
02:04He's better left-on-left.
02:06That's where I'm like, this is the baby Yordan thing.
02:09And that's where, you know, a guy is just an unfazed hitter
02:12and just a pure hitter in totality.
02:16And then the other side of it is then nobody that's that pure
02:19should have the power that Drake Baldwin has.
02:21And I know it's not – then that's where like Yordan –
02:23no one that's that pure should have 70, 80-grade power like Yordan does.
02:26But the fact that Drake Baldwin even gives you above-average pop,
02:29and now, I mean, with how hard he's sitting the ball, it's been plus pop,
02:32that changes the game now, right?
02:34He had 19 homers and 446 plate appearances last year.
02:37It's 216 – and 216 plate appearances this year.
02:39He's got 13 homers.
02:41Baldwin now looking like he has plus pop.
02:45I think this is a guy that could be one of the best catchers in the game.
02:48It's a little bit more offensive-driven, but he's blocking well.
02:51Like, the catch and throw has gotten better.
02:53I think the one only, like, gripe you could have slight, slight, slight,
02:56slight is receiving, and that's become a little bit less important now.
02:59I mean, this is a really, really, really good player
03:03that I just think is going to age better and better,
03:06and I think we're going to start looking at him.
03:07This isn't a hot start overreact.
03:09I think this is a guy that's not going anywhere.
03:12Even with the, I guess, average to slightly below-average defense,
03:17you think this guy will flirt with the crown of best catcher in baseball?
03:21Well, Raleigh's taken a downturn this year,
03:23and so much of it is oblique-impacted, so really unfortunate.
03:26We'll see what Baldwin looks like when he comes back from the oblique issue,
03:28but, you know, like, when we sit down this offseason,
03:32and in January, when you get the Google sheet
03:34and it's time to rank your top 10 catchers,
03:36is the thought going to cross your mind to have Baldwin at one?
03:40It's going to be hard to ignore.
03:41I think it depends on how Shea Langleyers finishes this year
03:44and how long Greg Baldwin is out, unfortunately,
03:47because that is, some of it is like, what have you done for me lately?
03:49But I do think we're going to be at a point where, yeah,
03:51it's going to be reminiscent of the Will Smith years
03:54before the defense really came along,
03:55where he was just so, so, so good offensively
03:57that you had to have him in the top, you know, a couple spots there.
04:01But I also think just seeing the defense progress for Baldwin
04:04to the point where it's, you know, I think neutral
04:08is probably enough with how good the bat is
04:10to have him in that conversation.
04:13It's going to be a matter of just how superstar-y
04:16are some of the other guys that have been in the past,
04:18like we've seen Cal and then maybe even just like
04:21how good is the finish for Shea Langleyers
04:23who looks like he's getting better and better and better as well.
04:25But I think we're going to be looking at Baldwin
04:27as like a slam dunk top five catcher.
04:30And the biggest thing is like a slam dunk
04:32middle of the order type of bat
04:34that you can count on for the next 10 years.
04:36I said it early this year,
04:38I'm waiting for that extension from the Braves.
04:41I'm surprised it hasn't come yet on Drake Baldwin.
04:43It's one that I don't think they'll regret very much.
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