Atlanta Braves Get Brutal Injury Update on Drake Baldwin

The Atlanta Braves placed catcher Drake Baldwin on the 10-day injured list Tuesday morning with a strained right oblique, and it is about as bad as the timing gets for a team that has been fighting through injuries all year.

Baldwin, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, had not missed a game in 2026 before leaving Monday night's 12-0 loss to the Miami Marlins after lining out in the sixth inning.

Through 47 games, Baldwin had been flat-out one of the best hitters in baseball.

The 25-year-old was batting .301 with 13 home runs, 38 RBI and a .928 OPS while leading every catcher in the majors in home runs.

A 162 wRC+ and 2.1 fWAR had him square in NL MVP conversations, and his numbers against left-handed pitching were just as good as his numbers against righties, which made him a nightmare for opposing managers to plan around.

What Baldwin did as a rookie was already impressive, hitting .274 with 19 home runs and 80 RBI in 124 games to win Rookie of the Year.

His sophomore year had been better in almost every way, though, with his power on pace to blow past those rookie totals and his plate discipline ticking up right along with it.

Walt Weiss praised him just days ago after his 13th homer, saying "Drake's doing some special things" and adding that it does not matter where they put him in the order because he produces.

The Braves are 32-16 with the second best record in baseball, but the injury list has been brutal all season long.

Baldwin now joins Sean Murphy on the shelf, and Murphy's fractured finger is expected to keep him out until at least July.

Atlanta is left with Sandy Leon and Chadwick Tromp, whose contract was selected Tuesday, as the only catchers available.

Ronald Acuna Jr. was just activated Monday from a hamstring strain, and the Braves have also been without Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep and several other key pieces at various points.

One guy comes back and another goes down.

That has been the story of this season in Atlanta, and somehow the Braves keep winning anyway.

There is no timetable for Baldwin's return, and oblique strains are unpredictable.

A mild one can still keep a player out for a month, and anything worse than that pushes the timeline well into June.

The Braves have shown they can grind through just about anything during this strong start to the season, but losing their best hitter at a position where the roster is now paper thin is a whole different challenge.