Worry not: Drake Baldwin’s success hasn’t gone to his (cheese) head

The plaque that Drake Baldwin received for being voted the National League Rookie of the Year was not the only prized hardware that the Braves catcher accepted this past offseason.

In late December, Baldwin was accorded an honor that any proud son of Wisconsin would cherish — a Packers cheesehead hat with his name on it, courtesy of the franchise. He was gifted the wedge-shaped headgear at a Packers home game when he was invited onto Lambeau Field’s hallowed turf along with two other elite athletes and Green Bay fans, golfer Nelly Korda and soccer player Khyah Harper.

“That’s hanging up in my room right now, honestly,” Baldwin told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution during spring training, a grin on his face.

The on-field visit at Lambeau was one of a number of appearances that certified Baldwin’s celebrity. He was a pregame sideline guest at a Falcons game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, watched a Hawks game from courtside seats with pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach and made his way to Bryant-Denny Stadium to watch Alabama.

Not least, he attended the annual Baseball Writers’ Association of America awards dinner in New York, where he mixed with fellow 2025 award winners Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal (and AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz).

“It’s still a little bit like, ‘These guys, they’re the guys you see on social media and TV all the time,’ so it was cool,” Baldwin said.

In short, there was ample opportunity for Baldwin’s head to expand and tighten the crown of his treasured Swiss cheese chapeau.

Did it?

Apparently not.

A sampling of observations:

“He’s never going to change,” ace Chris Sale said. “It doesn’t matter what he does. He’ll never change. And that’s what makes him special, right?”

“He still wants to be the best, no matter what,” center fielder and former Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II told the AJC. “Having that mindset doesn’t allow you (to get complacent). … He puts in the work every day still and shows up here ready to go.”

“He’s the same guy,” hitting coach Tim Hyers told the AJC. “Comes to work focused and prepared each and every day.”

I know. What else are they supposed to say?

But it says something that their perspectives centered on the same theme of Baldwin’s consistency of work ethic. And they might just be telling the truth.

“The game’s always going to throw you some obstacles, but I have all the confidence that he’s going to handle those like a professional,” Hyers said.

And that bodes well for Baldwin, as he heads into his second major league season and tries to improve upon the high-level production of his rookie year (19 home runs, .274 batting average, .810 OPS). He became just the seventh rookie catcher in history to drive in 80 runs.

With growing distractions and temptations to feel as if he has arrived, Baldwin, who turns 25 on Saturday, has a sense about handling success and its trappings.

With the offseason trips, “I was kind of taking advantage of it,” he said. “Obviously, still getting the work in during the week, but if those opportunities arose, it’s memories I’ll remember the rest of my life.”

He stayed in Atlanta for most of the season to work out at Truist Park. And while it would be easy for him to look back on his rookie year with a feeling of mastery, Baldwin saw it differently.

“I think with baseball, there’s a lot of failure, obviously,” he said. “So even at the end of the year, there were some games where I kind of realized I wasn’t as good as I thought I was, I guess, which kind of gave some motivation to (think), like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to get better. You can’t be the same guy or get worse. There’s always incentive to get better.’”

After playing in 124 games last season — starting 85 behind the plate and 12 at designated hitter — his workload will almost certainly increase in both roles. He’ll have to adjust to hitting second, where it appears manager Walt Weiss will slot him to start the season.

As a catcher, he allowed 88 stolen bases last season, most in the National League.

“And then everyone always talks about how fun the playoffs are, and the World Series,” Baldwin said. “That’s a goal that everyone’s kind of striving for.”

There’s always incentive to get better.

After a breathtaking rookie season, Baldwin looks like he will.