next man up

Perhaps sooner than expected, Drake Baldwin — Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect — will join the lengthy list of former Mississippi Braves catchers to reach the majors. The injury to starting catcher Sean Murphy that will sideline him at the start of the 2025 season opens the door for Baldwin to make Atlanta’s opening day roster. In camp as a non-roster invitee, Baldwin is 4-for-12 with two RBIs in Grapefruit League games. At age 23, he already has impressive seasoning. A former third-round pick from Missouri State, the lefty slugger hit .244 with four homers in 52 games for the Double-A M-Braves in 2024 before finishing the season at Triple-A, where he belted 12 more bombs. He batted .377 in a brief stint in the Arizona Fall League and then played for Team USA in the World Baseball Premier 12 tournament. Since Brian McCann jumped to the big leagues from Mississippi in 2005, 10 other M-Braves catchers have made the climb, including Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Christian Bethancourt, William Contreras, Shea Langeliers, Alex Jackson, Willians Astudillo, Clint Sammons and Jesus Sucre.