[Thomas Nestico on X] Drake Baldwin, #1 Catching Prospect?
December 18, 2024
[Thomas Nestico on X] Drake Baldwin, #1 Catching Prospect?
4 comments
i’ve been trying for some time to think of a good way to emphasize how ridiculous Drake Baldwin’s 72-game stint in Gwinnett was this year, and now that one of my favorite Twitter follows has started making Savant sliders for minor league Statcast data, I finally have a nice visual tool!
Ridiculous fact: in the Triple-A Statcast era, 1,167 players have gotten at least 150 PAs at Triple-A. Baldwin is third in xwOBA.
Now, this doesn’t mean that the Braves:
1) have to sell low on Murphy a year removed from a 5-WAR season
or
2) have to force Baldwin to learn LF.
or
3) trade Baldwin this offseason.
My guess is that by the time the Atlanta summer hits, the Braves won’t want Murphy catching 5-6 games a week and it’ll suddenly make a lot of sense for Not Chadwick Tromp to get semi-regular playing time, at which time Baldwin will have a natural opportunity to get some ABs.
No prospect is untouchable, and that includes Baldwin. But FanGraphs views him as a top 50 prospect in the game, as do I, so you’d better be getting back controllable star talent if he’s in the package (i.e. not the headliner for a Dylan Cease rental or to absorb Luis Castillo’s contract.)
Ya it’s why they didn’t even entertain bringing Travis back. Dude is going to usurp Murphy in a couple years, and not because Murphy won’t be good, but Baldwin will be one of the best catchers in the league in 3 or less years.
But how is his framing?
Let’s not forget that he also played in a AA park that was an awful ballpark to hit in. So keep that in mind when looking at his entire season offensively
![[Thomas Nestico on X] Drake Baldwin, #1 Catching Prospect?](https://www.rawchili.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/iTkMZZkuegmW9FEqCUtaPbqpTfG4nMT4X_YMxnFuGF0.jpg)
4 comments
i’ve been trying for some time to think of a good way to emphasize how ridiculous Drake Baldwin’s 72-game stint in Gwinnett was this year, and now that one of my favorite Twitter follows has started making Savant sliders for minor league Statcast data, I finally have a nice visual tool!
Ridiculous fact: in the Triple-A Statcast era, 1,167 players have gotten at least 150 PAs at Triple-A. Baldwin is third in xwOBA.
Now, this doesn’t mean that the Braves:
1) have to sell low on Murphy a year removed from a 5-WAR season
or
2) have to force Baldwin to learn LF.
or
3) trade Baldwin this offseason.
My guess is that by the time the Atlanta summer hits, the Braves won’t want Murphy catching 5-6 games a week and it’ll suddenly make a lot of sense for Not Chadwick Tromp to get semi-regular playing time, at which time Baldwin will have a natural opportunity to get some ABs.
No prospect is untouchable, and that includes Baldwin. But FanGraphs views him as a top 50 prospect in the game, as do I, so you’d better be getting back controllable star talent if he’s in the package (i.e. not the headliner for a Dylan Cease rental or to absorb Luis Castillo’s contract.)
Ya it’s why they didn’t even entertain bringing Travis back. Dude is going to usurp Murphy in a couple years, and not because Murphy won’t be good, but Baldwin will be one of the best catchers in the league in 3 or less years.
But how is his framing?
Let’s not forget that he also played in a AA park that was an awful ballpark to hit in. So keep that in mind when looking at his entire season offensively