What happened to Drake Baldwin? Why Braves' superstar catcher was placed on IL

The Atlanta Braves have been one of the best teams in Major League Baseball during the 2026 season so far, and Drake Baldwin is one of the main reasons why.

At 32-16, the Braves are well on their way to the top spot in the NL East with a seven-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies. However, after a 12-0 loss to the Miami Marlins, the Braves got some bad news.

As the Braves announced on Tuesday morning, Baldwin is going on the injured list due to an injury. The announcement revealed why, and it's an issue worth being concerned about.

Why Braves placed Drake Baldwin on IL

"The Braves today selected C Chadwick Tromp to the major league roster and placed C Drake Baldwin on the 10-day injured list with a strained right oblique muscle," the Braves announced.

This is some terrible news for the Braves, as they're losing one of their best players due to injury, seemingly out of nowhere.

He played during the loss to the Marlins, but was pulled for Sandy Leon partway through. But, with the game a blowout, it wouldn't have been a bad idea to try to lessen the wear-and-tear.

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That was not the case, as he's being placed on the injured list due to an oblique issue, and such side injuries can be a bit tricky to recover from.

Baldwin, the Braves superstar catcher who is second on the team in OPS at .932, only a little behind Matt Olson at .941, is going to miss some time.

He has a .303 batting average with 38 RBIs, 13 homers, 57 hits, and 39 runs scored this season in 188 at-bats before hitting the IL.

Losing such a key offensive piece is a tough blow for Atlanta, though Ronald Acuna Jr.'s return should help soften the blow a little bit.

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