It was a year ago on a balmy summer day in Winston-Salem, North Carolina when this personal saga began. I entered Regions field, camera in hand, anxious to familiarize myself with White Sox prospects at the High-A level.

Left-hander Tyler Schweitzer was on the mound, breakout catcher Michael Turner was behind the dish, and DJ Gladney and Loidel Chapelli rounded out the list of prospects I was particularly excited to capture images of during my brief stay in Winston-Salem. I’d just shot photos of Rikuu Nishida and the dynamic host of White Sox prospects in Single-A Kannapolis the day before, with Triple-A Charlotte slotted in the day after to round out a mini-tour of my girlfriend’s home state of North Carolina.

In addition to the Dash-ers I mentioned last paragraph, top Braves prospect Nacho Lopez was poised to continue his ascent through the minors with his brief stop at High-A for the opposing Rome Braves.

There was no shortage of storylines to follow on that torrid afternoon. But fate would see to it that my most consequential affinity within the White Sox farm system, and perhaps the most unlikely, would begin to take hold.

A dashing, switch-hitting, non-Top 30 prospect by the name of Brooks Baldwin was slotted into the 3-hole on the lineup card. If I can be permitted to profess my ignorance, I didn’t know who the kid was at the time. I was new to covering the minor leagues, and I hadn’t had the time to develop an opinion on each of the hundreds of players within the White Sox organization.

Baldwin, himself a North Carolina native, hails from a small town by the name of Whiteville, just up Highway 74 from Lake Waccamaw and a little short of an hour from Wilmington, the city where Baldwin played his college ball. In four years for UNC-Wilmington, Brooks would appear in 180 games with an impressive slash line of .298/.348/.501, good for an OPS of .849. He smashed 30 home runs and swiped 39 bases in that time frame, establishing himself as a threat in the batter’s box and on the basepaths. The White Sox saw enough promise in his game to take him in the 12th round of the 2022 draft, No. 371 overall. As has been postulated since, Baldwin may prove to be the steal of the entire draft.

Whoever gets Brooks Baldwin tomorrow is getting a steal. Led the Cape in hits while here and played 7 positions with good defense at all of them. Looking forward to seeing where he goes tomorrow

— Daniel Garcia (@danielpgarcia01) July 18, 2022

When play began on that summer afternoon in Winston-Salem, a sparse but dedicated hometown crowd was quickly introduced to the assets that make Baldwin such a dynamic player. In the bottom of the first, in his first at-bat, Baldwin tallied the first of many hits that would come to be his calling card as a minor-leaguer. To this point in the season, he’d earned a .313 average, tops on the ballclub, and became known for frequent multi-hit games and an exceptional batted ball profile.

Folks are quick to characterize Baldwin as a Zobrist-like, superutility prospect who excels with singles and soft contact, clutch hitting, and solid defense wherever he starts. And while I understand those comparisons, I have to disagree with the sentiment overall.

Baldwin possesses gap power and overall slugging potential that will set his career trajectory apart from the dynamic Zobrist, who still mashed 167 homers in parts of 14 MLB seasons. It’s my opinion that, before the history books close on Baldwin’s career his home run total will begin with a two or three, not a one.

Contact and power aren’t the only skills Baldwin possesses, either. Shortly after driving in the first run of the game with his first hit of the game in the first inning of play in Winston-Salem, Brooks broke for second base in what would become his eighth steal of the season.

Speed is an oft-overlooked aspect of Baldwin’s game that benefits him in the field as often as it does on the basepaths. While Baldwin is certainly a plus runner, his steal attempts are limited by a characteristic caution that he also shows in his swing decisions, making for a high success rate, but not a gaudy overall amount of attempts. That said, Baldwin easily has 30+ steal speed if he ever received a standing green-light to showcase his dynamic toolkit.

At the conclusion of play on that fateful day in Winston-Salem, I’d have a new favorite prospect within the system. Brooks would go on to finish his first full season in minor league baseball with an .808 OPS with 15 homers and 22 steals in 93 games, good for 162-game averages of 26 HR and 38 SB. That performance would earn Baldwin a promotion to Double-A Birmingham to start the 2024 season as well as a spot in the bottom half of the Chicago White Sox Top 30 prospects list per MLB. His promotion, which many who were unfamiliar with his game saw as too aggressive, has paid dividends in 2024. Across the two highest levels of the minors, Brooks excelled with a .324 average, 17 steals, and career-high wRC+’s of 144 in Double-A and 179 at Triple-A.

Now, merely two years after Baldwin’s selection in the 12th round of the 2022 draft, he has soared through the White Sox minor league system and up prospect leaderboards with a quickness that has vaulted him to the majors to begin the second half of 2024.

Starting tonight in Kansas City, Brooks will be able to showcase his five-tool potential in front of a national audience hungry for catharsis and desperate for homegrown players to root for.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the Brooks Baldwin show.

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