Take Baldwin As we head towards the last few weeks of the regular season for Major League Baseball and into the postseason, the leaders for potential end of the season award winners are emerging.
This statement is consistent when it comes to this year’s Rookie of the Year. With the American League winner all but confirmed thanks to a certain slugging lefty for the A’s (Nick Kurtz), the National League campaign is far less certain.
Drake Baldwin Leads NL Rookie of Year Candidates
Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin appears to be the leader as his stellar rookie campaign was unexpected and has taken the baseball world by storm. Baldwin, who was a third round pick in 2022 out of Missouri State University, has been one of the few bright spots in an overall disappointing season for a team that was expected to be in the postseason race.
Importance Of Black Catchers
The significance of being a black catcher in the MLB dates back to pioneers like Moses Fleetwood Walker, who debuted in 1884 as the first black catcher. Modern era stars such as Elston Howard, a 12-time All-Star and first Black MVP of the American League, shared the Yankees’ catching duties with Yogi Berra. Roy Campanella the first Black catcher in the modern era (1948) and a three-time MVP with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
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John Roseboro, who was Roy Campanella’s successor as a catcher for the Dodgers, he played for three World Series-winning teams. Charles Johnson, a four-time Gold Glove winner and the last Black American catcher to be an everyday starter for an MLB team, from 1995 to 2005.
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These black catching pioneers set standards for Black catchers in the sport and helped paved the way for other notable catchers including Earl Battey, Russell Martin, and the recent presence of players like Bo Naylor and Chuckie Robinson.
Drake Baldwin Keeps Black Catchers In The Game
The position has seen fewer everyday Black American starters in recent decades, but Drake Baldwin is making his case to be the next name in this lineage.
Baldwin has slowed a bit since mid-August (he was hitting just .224 with a .644 OPS in his past 20 games through Sunday), he’s been arguably the best overall rookie performer in the NL this season. Entering Monday, he led all qualified Senior Circuit rookies with 63 RBIs and a .447 slugging percentage, while his .796 OPS ranked second.
He also had the second-most homers (15), second-highest average (.276) and second-best on-base percentage (.349). This has led Baldwin to be ranked number one in MLB’s poll ranking for the Rookie of the Year award.
Winning this award would be a great representation for black players in the MLB as Drake Baldwin would be the first MLBbro to earn Rookie of the Year honors since 2020 when Kyle Lewis in the AL & Devin Williams for the NL won. This will ultimately lead to Drake Baldwin as the Atlanta Braves everyday catcher for a return to prominence for that organization in 2026.
