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Drake Baldwin is one of baseball’s most-promising prospects. A third-round pick in 2022 out of Missouri State University, the 23-year-old catcher in the Atlanta Braves organization is No. 11 on our Top 100. His left-handed stroke is a big reason why. Flashing plus power, Baldwin bashed 16 home runs last season while logging a 119 wRC+ between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett.
He could have pursued a career in another sport. All-State in hockey as a Wisconsin prep, the sturdily-built Madison West High School product potted 43 goals as a junior, then found the back of the net 46 times as a senior.
Why did he choose the diamond, and not the ice?
“Hockey recruiting is a little later, so I didn’t actually talk to many colleges,” Baldwin said of his decision. “I think I had a chance, and the [junior hockey] route was interesting too, but being able to go right from high school to college and start working on a degree was a more straightforward path to where I wanted to be. I mean, I love both sports. I wish I could play both of them. Baseball just came first.”
Currently one class short of earning a business degree from Missouri State, Baldwin played center on his high school team and left wing in tournament hockey. Asked if he was ever comped to an NHL player, he claimed to be unaware of that happening. He did offer his own, albeit mostly for fun.
“I’ll say Auston Matthews because he scores,” said Baldwin, naming the Toronto Maple Leafs superstar who has led the NHL in goals in multiple seasons. “No one else said that, but I liked scoring.”
Not surprisingly, Baldwin also enjoys hitting home runs.
“I’d love to be considered [a power hitter],” said Baldwin. “I want to be an all-around hitter, but whenever I get a mistake, I want to be able to do damage on it. Competing in the box and being able to use the whole field is kind of my approach, but hitting home runs is fun. The goal is to hit the ball as hard as you can, as much as you can.”
Baldwin has come to the plate 12 times this spring and is 4-for-9 with a double and three walks.
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Gee Walker went 14 for 27 against General Crowder.
Dixie Walker went 15 for 33 against Elmer Riddle.
Walker Cooper went 16 for 34 against Schoolboy Rowe.
Harry “The Hat” Walker went 17 for 47 against Ralph Branca.
Gavvy Cravath went 2 for 6 against Mysterious Walker.
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When I first interviewed him in 2019, Walker Buehler was a young flamethrower midway through a season that saw him finish 14-4 with a 3.26 ERA and a 3.01 ERA. In the year following 2020’s truncated COVID campaign, he went 16-4 with a 2.47 ERA and a 3.16 ERA. As my colleague Dan Szymborski would later write, “Buehler became The Man in the [Dodgers] rotation.”
The 30-year-old right-hander is no longer in Los Angeles, nor is he the same pitcher he once was. Now with Boston after inking a free-agent deal in December, he’s seen injuries and the passage of time take their toll. Buehler had Tommy John surgery in 2022 — he’d previously gone under the knife in 2015 — and last season he was out for an extended period due to a hip ailment. Like all pitchers, he’s had to adapt as he ages.
“As you get older, things change,” Buehler told me in Red Sox camp. “My stuff isn’t quite what it was in 2019, but you mature and learn other ways to get guys out. You develop other pitches. The sweeper is something that’s kind of come into the game, and into mine, I also throw a lot more cutters now. Back then it was a lot of four-seam fastballs. So, things have evolved, as they do for every guy.”
A less-explosive four-seamer is a reason Buehler has had to adjust his approach (Jake Mailhot addressed the offering’s downturn, and why it may not matter as much with his new team, back in January).
“The general shape is the same, it’s just not quite as big, quite as jumpy,” acknowledged Buehler. “That makes me mix and match a little more to set it up. I can’t quite rely on it three, four, five times in a row like I could at one point. I need to pitch a little bit, as opposed to just trying to throw it by everyone. There’s still some velo in there, but I need to put myself in spots with more margin for error.”
Which isn’t to say he no longer considers himself a power pitcher.
“I still do,” said Buehler, whose heater remained a still-firm 95 mph in 2024. “I think a lot of the throws I make are power throws. It’s just that you have to evolve a little bit. Guys don’t throw 100 forever.”
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Seby Zavala has caught in 183 big-league games, the bulk of them with the Chicago White Sox. He has also squatted behind the dish with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Seattle Mariners. Who among the pitchers he’s worked with most stands out for the uniqueness of a particular offering?
“[Bryan] Woo, with the Mariners,” said Zavala, who was in Seattle last season and is currently in camp with the Red Sox. “He’s kind of like [Michael] Kopech. Kopech was the first time I saw someone who could just throw fastballs right down the middle, and even if hitters knew it was coming, they would still swing and miss. Woo was doing that. Seeing Woo’s fastball up close and personal is very interesting.
“The approach angle, the induced vertical, the way his arm works,” continued Zavala. “He’s super smooth in his motion — the ball comes out really nice — and then it just jumps. To me it looks straight as an arrow, but then you’ve got to try to hit it. I know it’s coming, so it’s a little easier. Catching is a lot easier than hitting.”
Kopech’s down-the-middle heaters achieve similar results, albeit in a dissimilar manner.
“Kopech threw harder,” explained Zavala. “His is different, but they’re both unicorn fastballs. They’re pitches that most guys couldn’t replicate. Kopech’s also had more horizontal movement. It looked like it was rising and going up-and-in to a righty. It was arm-side and would just take off like a plane. It’s kind of hard to explain, and definitely something hard to hit.”
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A quiz:
Rogers Hornsby is one of three second basemen to play the majority of their games at that position and hit more than 300 home runs. Who are the other two?
The answer can be found below.
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NEWS NOTES
The Triple-A Iowa Cubs have hired Jason Kempf as their new radio play-by-play broadcaster. A veteran of 10 minor-league seasons behind the mic, the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh grad spent the last four seasons calling games for the Carolina League’s Charleston RiverDogs.
Eddie Fisher, who pitched for six teams from 1959-1973, died on February 17 at age 88. The right-hander’s best season came with the Chicago White Sox in 1965 when he led the junior circuit with 82 appearances and went 15-7 with 24 saves and a 2.40 ERA. All told, he took the mound 690 times and was credited with 85 wins and 82 saves.
Bobby Malkmus, an infielder who played for three teams across the 1957-1962 seasons, died on February 23 at age 93. The first of the Newark native’s eight big-league home runs, which he hit in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform, was a grand slam off of “Toothpick Sam” Jones.
Rob Fitts, Gary Gillette, and Richard Malatzky were announced as the 2025 recipients of SABR’s Henry Chadwick Award, which honors the game’s great researchers. More information can be found here.
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The answer to the quiz is Jeff Kent (377 home runs) and Robinson Canó (335).
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Last Sunday’s column included Bubba Chandler talking about facing his friend and fellow-high-ranking prospect Roman Anthony. Today we’ll hear from Anthony — No. 2 on our Top 100 — on facing Chandler (No. 23).
“Bubba’s awesome,” said Anthony. “He’s got electric stuff. He’s succeeded at every level, and I think he’s going to help [the Pittsburgh Pirates] very soon. You love competing against the best, so it’s always fun to face that guy.”
Chandler surrendered the Red Sox prospect’s first High-A hit last season. Hearing that the right-hander had shared that fact with me brought a smile to his face.
“He was,” acknowledged Anthony. “I got called up and he was the first guy I faced. It was kind of, ‘OK, here we go.’ I hit a double up the gap — it was on a heater if I’m remembering right — but he got me too. Everything he throws is good. We’ve had our fair share of battles.”
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Charles McAdoo will battle to establish himself in the Blue Jays system this season. Acquired by Toronto from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Isiah Kiner-Falefa at last summer’s trade deadline, the 22-year-old third baseman scuffled to the tune of a 79 wRC+ with Double-A New Hampshire after changing organizations. His overall numbers were more pleasing. On the year, McAdoo slashed .279/.364/.479 with 17 home runs and a 138 wRC+ over a nearly identical number of at-bats between High-A and Double-A.
His current focus is on improving his swing decisions. The 2023, 13th round pick out of San Jose State University is satisfied with his right-handed stroke — bat speed and raw power are among his attributes — but he feels that he needs to refine his zone. As he put it, “The smaller it is, the more damage I can do.”
That he would be doing damage in professional baseball was never a given. A two-sport standout at Concord, California’s De La Salle Academy, McAdoo wasn’t highly recruited out of high school, nor was he the apple of evaluators’ eyes coming out of college.
“I definitely flew under the radar,” McAdoo told me prior to a recent spring training game. “I was drafted in a later round, and [prior to that] was really only scouted by one school. It was hard for me to do travel ball, because I was playing football. I was a receiver and played defense. Not [one position], but all-over defense.”
Basketball is also a part of his background. While his own experience on the hardwood is limited, NBA Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo is a cousin, as is erstwhile Golden State Warrior James Michael McAdoo.
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A random obscure former player snapshot:
Dae-Sung Koo finished his brief big-league career with .500 batting average, and his lone hit came against a Hall of Famer. A left-hander who tossed 23 relief innings for the New York Mets in 2005, the native of Daejeon, South Korea doubled off of Randy Johnson in a 7-1 win over the Yankees. In his one previous plate appearance, he’d fanned against Cincinnati’s Todd Coffey without bothering to take the bat off his shoulder.
His MLB ledger on the mound included no wins or saves, but his overall record includes plenty of both. Dae-Sung played professionally from 1993-2023 — he threw his last pitch at age 52 — toeing the rubber in the KBO, NPB, and ABL. All told, he appeared in 804 games, logging 94 wins and 259 saves.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Abner Uribe revealed to reporters that he tore the meniscus in his right knee last season while playing Hacky Sack with teammates. Adam McCalvy has the story at MLB.com.
The Baltimore Banner’s Danielle Allentuck wrote about how Orioles right-hander Zach Eflin bridges the gap between old- and new-school approaches.
Three Minnesota Twins players narrowly avoided a serious car crash near the team’s spring training facility. MLB.com’s Matthew Leach has the story.
Derek Bender was accused of giving away his team’s pitches while catching for the Twins’ Low-A affiliate last summer, and was subsequently released by the organization. Sam Blum talked to him for The Athletic (subscription required).
Also at The Athletic, Tyler Kepner wrote about how three stealth relievers typify MLB’s dominant species: the unknown guy who nobody can hit. (subscription required.)
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Houston Astros reliever Tayler Scott allowed 23 hits and had a .189 BAA versus right-handed hitters last year. He allowed 22 hits and had a .188 BAA versus left-handed hitters.
Don Mattingly had 2,153 hits, 442 doubles, 222 home runs, and a 124 wRC+.Adrian González had 2,050 hits, 437 doubles, 317 home runs, and a 127 wRC+.
Johnny Grubb slashed .370/.464/.609 in 279 career plate appearances against the Boston Red Sox. He slashed .151/.245/.285 in 200 plate appearances against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Warren Spahn threw 15 or more innings in a game three times and was tagged with the loss in each of those outings. The final scores were 3-1, 2-1, and 1-0.
On today’s date in 1927, the New York Yankees announced that Babe Ruth’s salary for each of the next three seasons would be $70,000, making him the highest-paid player in MLB history.
The Baltimore Orioles signed Ed Farmer as a free agent on today’s date in 1977.Later a closer and broadcaster for the Chicago White Sox, Farmer pitched to just two batters while wearing an Orioles uniform. Facing the Detroit Tigers, Farmer allowed a single to Lance Parrish, then issued a bases-loaded walk to Ben Oglivie.
Players born on today’s date include Pete Broberg, a hard-throwing right-hander who was drafted by the Washington Senators in 1971, then proceeded to make his MLB debut 12 days later without throwing a pitch in the minor leagues. All told, the Dartmouth College product went 41-71 with a 4.56 ERA over 963 innings before leaving the game to attend law school prior to the 1979 season.
Also born on today’s date was Moe Berg, who saw action in the big leagues from 1923-1939 but is better known for being an agent for the OSS during World War II. Berg’s biography, The Catcher Was a Spy, chronicles his fascinating life and career.
In 1891, Tom Brown played in 137 games for the American Association’s Boston Reds and led the circuit in hits (189), triples (21), stolen bases (106) and runs scored (177). The Liverpool, England-born outfielder’s runs-scored total is second-highest in history, behind only Billy Hamilton. “Sliding Billy” crossed the plate 198 times with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1884.
Teams in the 1918 Class-D Blue Ridge League included the Cumberland Colts and the Piedmont-Westernport Drybugs.
