Mets just spoiled Drake Baldwin’s NL Rookie of the Year chase with one pitch

The Atlanta Braves completed their three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins on Sunday with rookie sensation Drake Baldwin taking a rest day. Atlanta's 24-year-old catcher has exceeded all reasonable expectations this season, emerging as a rare bright spot in an otherwise dour Braves campaign. He's up to .289 on the season with an .835 OPS and 132 OPS+, belting 13 home runs with 51 RBI in 266 at-bats.

Baldwin is so good that Atlanta benched Marcell Ozuna and put him and Sean Murphy into an ongoing rotation between catcher and DH, just to keep the young phenom in the lineup more often. And yet, despite not even stepping foot on the field Sunday afternoon, Baldwin's case for NL Rookie of the Year took a hit. You can blame the New York Mets, of course.

The Mets don't actually have a frontrunner for the award. Instead, New York served up a marquee moment to Baldwin's foremost challenger for MLB's top rookie prize — Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Isaac Collins. He belted a walk-off home run to sweep the Mets and strengthen the Brewers' lead in the NL Central.

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Isaac Collins' signature moment puts Drake Baldwin's ROTY candidacy on thin ice

Isaac Collins has swiftly leapfrogged Drake Baldwin in the NL Rookie of the Year power rankings. The race feels more lopsided by the day.

It doesn't help that Milwaukee and Atlanta are on diametrically opposed trajectories right now. The Brewers are the hottest team in MLB and a sudden frontrunner to win the pennant. The Braves are sulking through another injury-ridden campaign and just hoping to reach the offseason without another catastrophic setback.

Collins has two teammates is the race with him — third baseman Caleb Durbin and pitching sensation Jacob Misiorowski. While there's a world in which Milwaukee's gaggle of star-powered rookies split votes, there is an equal (maybe even a greater) chance that the Brewers' battalion simply crowds Baldwin out of the race entirely. He lacks the at-bats after spending the first half of the campaign in a platoon with Sean Murphy, which doesn't help.

And, if there's anything for Mets fans to take solace in during this stretch from hell, it's that Edwin Díaz's blown save at least hurts Atlanta and its fans on some level. If you're going to fall aggressively out of the NL East race, you might as well inadvertently undercut a rival in the process.

Drake Baldwin Rookie of the Year loss would hurt Braves for more than sentimental reasons

Of course Braves fans want to celebrate Baldwin's remarkable rookie season with an award. But the Rookie of the Year race is important to Atlanta beyond the sentimental upside. The Braves are also slated to receive an extra first-round pick if Baldwin wins the award as part of MLB's Prospect Promotion Incentive.

So this is more than Atlanta losing out on a prestigious honor in a lost season. It's the Braves missing out on the chance to add another valuable asset as a result of this mostly horrid season. That is a double whammy of disappointment for a fanbase that deserves a reprieve from the constant negativity 2025 has had to offer.

Oh well. The Brewers — and Isaac Collins — move onward and upward, leaving Baldwin and the Braves in the dust.