![\"Atlanta](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2268701033-e1775230334541.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin.<\/p>\n
The Atlanta Braves<\/a> are off to a hot start to begin the 2026 season, and a big reason for that is second-year catcher Drake Baldwin.<\/p>\n Last season\u2019s National League Rookie of the Year has picked up right where he left off, helping the Braves to a 5-2 record thus far after their 17-2 win in the opening game of the series against the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even though it was Matt Olson who led the way in the Braves\u2019 dominant win<\/a> over the Diamondbacks, Baldwin\u2019s contributions didn\u2019t go unnoticed.<\/p>\n He went 1-for-6 with one RBI while scoring three runs. And while that stat line may not jump off the page, Baldwin\u2019s lone hit carried more significance than most realize.<\/p>\n Drake Baldwin Joins Hank Aaron With Rare Braves Feat<\/p>\n By scoring off Austin Riley\u2019s double in the fifth inning, Baldwin accomplished something only Hank Aaron had done nearly 70 years ago, according to MLB Stats<\/a>.<\/p>\n Baldwin has now scored in all seven of the Braves\u2019 games to begin the 2026 season \u2014 something Aaron last did in 1957.<\/p>\n That\u2019s elite company.<\/p>\n Aaron is widely considered one of the greatest players in Braves franchise history, and his career numbers reflect it. Across 23 seasons, Aaron scored 2,174 runs, including a career-high 121 in 1963. He also posted 118 runs during that 1957 season \u2014 the same year referenced in Baldwin\u2019s feat.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s wild,\u201d Baldwin said, per Mark Bowman<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m not even able to wrap my head around it.\u201d<\/p>\n Braves manager Walt Weiss added, \u201cYou never know what those things will lead to.\u201d<\/p>\n Baldwin still has a long way to go before reaching anything close to Aaron\u2019s level, but the start to his second season couldn\u2019t be much better.<\/p>\n He currently leads the league in runs scored with nine, is tied for third in home runs with three and tied for second in RBIs with eight. He\u2019s slashing .286\/.375\/.643 with a 1.018 OPS.<\/p>\n Braves\u2019 Offensive Explosion Adds to Baldwin\u2019s Early Impact<\/p>\n Baldwin\u2019s milestone came in the middle of one of the Braves\u2019 most dominant offensive performances in recent memory.<\/p>\n Atlanta\u2019s 17-2 win over Arizona wasn\u2019t just a blowout \u2014 it turned historic.<\/p>\n The Braves had 11 different players record both a hit and an RBI in the game, a feat not seen in MLB<\/a> in nearly 47 years.<\/p>\n The scoring started early with Olson launching a 430-foot home run in the first inning. Dominik Smith followed with a homer of his own in the third, but it was the fifth inning where the game completely broke open.<\/p>\n Seven different Braves scored in that inning alone.<\/p>\n Baldwin was right in the middle of it, crossing the plate as part of the offensive surge that put the game out of reach. The Braves kept adding on throughout the night, taking full advantage of a Diamondbacks staff that had no answer.<\/p>\n Baldwin later added to his impact by scoring again in the later innings, finishing with three runs on the night.<\/p>\n Only three Braves didn\u2019t score in the game, highlighting just how complete the offensive showing was from top to bottom.<\/p>\n Through seven games, Atlanta\u2019s offense is already showing signs of being one of the most dangerous in baseball \u2014 and Baldwin has been a major reason why.<\/p>\n If this start is any indication, the Braves may have more than just a promising young catcher on their hands. They might have a centerpiece.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tShane Shoemaker<\/a> Shane Shoemaker is a sports journalist covering college football and the NFL for Heavy.com. His work has also appeared in The Sporting News, Athlon Sports, USA TODAY, and ClutchPoints, along with high school sports coverage for the Marion Tribune. More about Shane Shoemaker<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Braves\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin. The Atlanta Braves are off to a hot start to begin the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2394],"tags":[191,46,4166,5,192,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-661068","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-braves","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-braves","10":"tag-atlantabraves","11":"tag-baseball","12":"tag-braves","13":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116341696219638677","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}