NORTH PORT, FL - MARCH 04: Drake Baldwin #30 of the Atlanta Braves bats during the game between the Team Columbia and the Atlanta Braves at CoolToday Park on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 in North Port, Florida. (Photo by Grace Hoppel/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images

We kick off this year’s preview of the Atlanta Braves positional groups with possibly the strongest collection of catchers on a National League roster in the 2026, with one large question mark – health.

Atlanta’s catching group features the reigning 2025 National League Rookie of the Year, a two different backstops who have an All-Star appearance and Gold Glove award on their resume as well as a deeper-down-the-depth-chart 13-year big league veteran and six-year veteran – both of whom are well-respected within the Braves organization.

Drake Baldwin

This time last year, Drake Baldwin appeared set to make his the Opening Day roster and his big league debut after a rib injury knocked presumed starting catcher Sean Murphy off the active roster.

Murphy’s injury opened the door for Baldwin to prove he belonged in big leagues. Despite a slow offensive start that was buoyed by positive underlying metrics, Baldwin more than held his own behind the plate while bringing an outstanding offensive profile to the Braves lineup.

Not only did Baldwin win the 2025 NL ROY award, but his inclusion on the roster and qualifying roster-time equirements allowed the Braves to gain an extra first round draft choice in the 2026 amateur draft.

For the season, Baldwin posted a 125 wRC+ at the place behind a .274/.341/.469 slash line that included 19 home runs and 80 RBI in 124 games. He struck out in only 15.2-percent of his plate appearances while walking 8.5-percent of the time.

Offensively, he excelled, with most of his batted-ball metrics placing him in the top 18-percent of the league. His Baseball Savant page in littered with bright red – a good thing, for those unfamiliar – with his bat speed, average exit velocity and hard hit-percentages amongst his best overall offensive traits.

Defensively, he caught 85 games – including 79 starts – logging 759.2 inning behind the plate. He excelled in blocking pitches but was middle of the road in framing and pop time. Although he allowed a league-high 88 stolen bases, that is as indicative of his pitchers inability to hold base runners as it was his inability to throw them out.

His ZIPs projection for 2026 sees him repeating his 2025 season – and if he does – that Braves will benefit from having one of the best young catchers in the game.

Given the 162-game suspension handed down to outfielder/designated hitter Jurickson Profar for his second failed PED test earlier this month, Baldwin is likely to factor in at designated hitter even more than he was penciled in to prior to Profar’s suspension.

If Murphy is able to successfully return from his hip injury by early May, Baldwin could log more time at DH than behind the plate by season’s end, with Murphy acting as the de facto starting catcher with Baldwin splitting time between DH and catcher. That would be no means be a slight to Baldwin, as Murphy is the superior defensive player, but Baldwin would still likley catch at least 75 games this season. If Murphy is delayed in his return, Baldwin could easily catch 100 games in 2026.

Baldwin, who will turn 25 the day after the Braves open their regular season, may slide into the second spot in the Braves’ lineup, hitting behind outfielder Ronald Acuńa, Jr. and ahead of first baseman Matt Olson. If he does, expect him to see action in at least 140 games, while being in consideration for an All-Star appearance if he is able to replicate his 2025 offensive success.

Jonah Heim

With Sean Murphy’s regular season likely to be delayed for at least six weeks due to his continued recovery from the hip surgery that prematurely ended his 2025 campaign, Atlanta signed former Texas Rangers starting catcher and 2023 American League All-Star and Gold Glove winner Jonah Heim to a one-year, $1.5M deal to be Baldwin’s back-up.

Heim, who is a switch hitter, struggled offensively and defensively in 2025 but did see action in 124 games. It was the second-consecutive year of declining production after back-to-back strong performances in 2022 and 2023.

Now 31, Heim is reunited with Braves hitting coach Tim Hyers – who served in the same roll with the Rangers prior to joining Atlanta in 2025. If Hyers can unlock Heim’s offensive he will be a perfectly acceptable back-up who had hit double-digit home runs each season going back to 2021. He was a 4.0 fWAR player in 2023 and posted 2.7 fWAR in 2022, providing some optimism that a he could have a bit of a bounce-back in 2026.

If Heim struggles in 2026 – he’s been a negative fWAR player the past two years – he could be jettisoned from the roster when Murphy returns, but if he proves a capable back-up, Atlanta could potentially keep three catchers on the 26-man roster due to the likelihood that one of Atlanta’s backstops is likely to see significant time at designated hitter. That would allow Heim to effectively serve as the team’s alternate back-up catcher.

Sean Murphy

When news broke late last season that Sean Murphy was having surgery for a hip issue that he’d been dealing with for quite a while, it was the latest in a checkered injury history the former Oakland Athletics catcher has had since the trade that brought him to Atlanta.

When he’s been on the field, Murphy’s been a quality starting catcher – even elite at times – but he’s only played in more than 100 games once since joining the Braves in 2023 due to various health issues.

In 2025, despite playing in only 94 games, Murphy slugged 16 home runs and produced 2.0 fWAR, but he did so while seeing his batting average dip below .200 for the second consecutive year. He struggled with making contract with pitches outside the strike zone, doing so a career-worst 37-percent of the time after averaging around 50-percent in every other season of his career. That led to a career-worst 31.4-percent strikeout percentage.

Despite the dip in production, he still had a 97 wRC+ in 2025 thanks to continuing to walk more than 10-percent of the time and a .409 slugging percentage.

Even while battling his hip issues, he was still among the best defensive catchers in the game – ranging from above average to elite in all metrics. An ace at blocking, framing and controlling the run game, a healthy Murphy would be a boon for the 2026 Braves for his defensive value alone.

If his offensive returns to pre-2024 levels, Murphy and Baldwin could see a lot of games with both of their names in the starting line-up, as both the right-handed hitting Murphy and left-handed swinging Baldwin don’t suffer from significant platoon splits.

Chadwick Tromp

Chadwick Tromp came into the 2025 season as the presumed back-up to Murphy but ended-up playing caddie to Baldwin until Murphy’s returned forced the out-of-options Tromp off the Braves roster.

Tromp, who’d...

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