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Drake Baldwin Named NL Player of the Week After 5‑for‑5, 2‑Home‑Run Game

The honor caps a three-game, 10‑hit surge that reversed a post‑oblique‑injury slide and materially lifted his season offensive metrics.

Overview

  • Baldwin produced a three-game series versus the Texas Rangers that included 10 hits, three home runs and eight RBIs, finishing 5‑for‑5 with two homers in Atlanta’s 8‑5 win on July 19.
  • Major League Baseball named him National League Player of the Week on July 20 after he led the majors in batting average, on‑base percentage and slugging over the three games.
  • OptaSTATS identified Baldwin as the youngest modern‑era catcher (since 1900) to record five or more hits and at least two home runs in a single game, a mark noted publicly after the July 19 performance.
  • His July run pushed season marks that had dipped after a mid‑May oblique injury back up to roughly a .368 wOBA (132 wRC+) and a .391 xwOBA, though analysts caution the change comes from a small sample.
  • Baldwin, the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year and a 2026 All‑Star starter, gives the first-place Braves a renewed middle‑of‑the‑order boost and a longer contact streak that has not included a strikeout in 34 plate appearances.