Braves receive exciting Drake Baldwin All-Star fan voting results

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The Atlanta Braves have been the best team in Major League Baseball this season, and while they've been without him for a while now, Drake Baldwin was a huge reason for the team's success early this season.

He's been one of the best catchers in baseball, both offensively and defensively. After a Rookie of the Year award in 2025, Baldwin has gotten even better in 2026. But this injury has kept him out for a while, putting his All-Star candidacy in jeopardy.

However, that's not the case, according to the first wave of fan voting for the All-Star Game, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale. The Braves' star catcher was the overwhelming leader in voting for NL catchers for the All-Star Game this year.

Drake Baldwin receives exciting All-Star voting results

Baldwin came in first place for the NL All-Star catcher position, with 972,813 votes this season, over 300,000 more than second place in Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith.

He nearly reached 1,000,000 votes, coming a little under 28,000 votes shy of that seven-digit vote figure, which is very impressive for someone who hasn't played since the middle of May.

Baldwin's 972,813 votes are the fourth-most of any player so far this season, behind only Aaron Judge at 977,460, Yordan Alvarez at 1,015,786, and Shohei Ohtani at 1,165,133.

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Even though he's played just 48 games, and not since May 18, it's very well deserved for Baldwin. Before the injury, he had a .303 batting average with 13 homers, 38 RBIs, and a .932 OPS.

He no longer qualifies offensively, but if he did, that .932 OPS mark would be significantly higher than the next-best catcher in the NL, Colorado Rockies' Hunter Goodman, who has an .857 OPS.

Baldwin deserves to be named the starting catcher for the NL All-Stars this season; even if he doesn't end up starting due to injury, it's an honor he deserves.