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Two Madison-Area Pros Earn Big-Time Hardware in 2024

October 16, 2024
By: David Go
Staff Writer

On the night of Wednesday, Sept. 11, some 893 miles from the baseball academy that raised them, Alan Roden tapped the shin guard of Drake Baldwin as he entered the box. Five pitches later, Roden reached base as the tying run in the ninth inning.

After Roden was stranded on the base paths, Baldwin came through for his Gwinnett squad to even the score back at three apiece. But by the following frame, Baldwin’s heroics faded from fans’ purview when Roden hit a decisive go-ahead single.

“I didn’t know how to call pitches to get him out,” said Baldwin.

Baldwin was speaking only for his own staff, who surrendered six hits and four walks including two homers to Roden across the series, but he may well have been speaking for the entire league. The Middleton native hit .314 and reached base at a .406 clip, including an August where he earned International League Player of the Month honors.

Opposite Roden was Baldwin, a Madison native who hit a homer and triple in the week-long series against Roden’s Bisons, part of a .298/.407/.484 slash line he put together in 72 Triple-A games.

The pair was named Baseball America’s Players of the Year for their respective organizations – Roden for Toronto, Baldwin for Atlanta.

For Baldwin, the season included a stop in Arlington at MLB’s All-Star Futures Game, where he clubbed a homer and showcased a cheese-themed bat in honor of the Dairy State.

“It’s validating to get the [BA POTY] and to go to the Futures Game,” said Baldwin. “It’s all really cool stuff – the main goal is to make it to the big leagues and stick there and help your team win, but it helps you stay the course if you haven’t gotten the call.”

Their seasons ended on the cusp of the big leagues, as both started in Double-A before advancing (and performing even better) at the minors' highest level.

Each was surrounded with veterans to guide them in the final stop before the show – including a future Hall of Famer in Buffalo.

“He had a lot of cool baseball insight,” said Roden on playing alongside Joey Votto. “Not even just hitting, just the game in general, how to be a good teammate. It was definitely unique having him around… He was just one of the guys.”

Inside the Gwinnett clubhouse was a host of veterans, each playing a unique part in Baldwin’s development.

“You see how they prepare for each game and you build off that,” said Baldwin, noting influence from World Series champ Yuli Gurriel, fellow catcher Sandy Leon and former Brewer Brian Anderson. “I tried to copy what they were doing as much as possible… Watching their preparation, I started to improve my pregame routines and that definitely helped me improve by being ready to play day-by-day.”

Plus, he had to develop by learning how to catch former Angels’ infielder David Fletcher’s newfound knuckleball.

“It’s disgusting,” said Baldwin. “I’d catch like eight out of 10.”

Signs are pointing to the years of work culminating in a big league call-up in 2025 for the Madison-area standouts. Both developed a professional work ethic in their home state, playing with GRB Academy, located in Windsor, Wis., just outside of Madison.

“GRB was easily the best in exposing me to scouts, college coaches, and was the highest level of competition,” said Roden, a 2018 graduate from Middleton High School. “At the end of the day, it's being able to face the competition that you might see a couple years down the line that'll help prepare you to play at a higher level. Those two summers [at GRB] were a huge reason why I got recruited and ended up going to Creighton. The decision to go to GRB changed the trajectory of my baseball career.”

Baldwin echoed Roden’s praise for the program while adding that the cold-weather environment may have benefitted his career in a sport traditionally dominated by southern-raised athletes.

“I’m always a believer that it’s beneficial to play other sports and just stay athletic when you’re a kid,” said Baldwin, who split his youth playing baseball and ice hockey. “That helped me a lot. Just having fun with it, still loving the game of baseball… I don’t think it was a disadvantage at all - it may have been an advantage to play other sports and not just play baseball.”

It also meant a small chip on their shoulders as they made their way from the Wisconsin high schools through the professional ranks.

"They were grinders," said Steve Nielsen, who served as Prep Baseball Wisconsin Scouting Supervisor when Roden and Baldwin played their prep ball. "It was like they showed up with a lunch pail and a hard hat... I saw those guys as kids that were going to figure out a way to keep their careers moving in the right direction with hard work, whatever they needed to do."

Baldwin and Roden are examples of the modern Wisconsin baseball player, a state not known for its aptitude in developing hardball talent.

“Drake and Alan had these same things,” said Greg Reinhard, founder of GRB Academy, who added that Roden played soccer and basketball. “They're both classic Wisconsin cases– kids who play multiple sports, and then when it's time to limit to one sport that ceiling is a lot higher than kids who have only played baseball.”

Some 10 GRB names have been called in the MLB Draft since Baldwin and Roden, and the success of both may help ensure more reach their dreams.

“For them to be around our players is awesome,” said Reinhard, who maintained they often return to Madison for training during the offseason. “I think it gives people something to shoot for… Plus you could walk up to Drake Baldwin or Alan Roden and have a conversation with them and leave feeling like the warmest person ever. They have these personalities that make people feel better.”

Just as Hitters’ Gavin Lux and Jarred Kelenic laid the groundwork for a mini-hotbed of talent to come out of southeastern Wisconsin, Baldwin and Roden are primed to do the same while representing the Madison area.

"It gives you a little shot of confidence," said Nielsen. "High school kids now have players to look up to... and kids can see them firsthand."

Baldwin was named as a top-100 prospect by both ESPN and Baseball America this summer, while Roden was named the Buffalo Bisons' MVP at the end of this season, earning a place among his organization’s best up-and-coming talent.

Among Baseball America's 30 Organizational Players of the Year, just four other states laid claim to multiple athletes. All four – Florida, California, Tennessee and Georgia – are located south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and are known for producing elite baseball players. Roden and Baldwin are playing an integral part of the state's emergence as a pipeline to the Big Leagues.

“They’ve just been the ultimate head down grinders,” said Reinhard. “They're awesome.”

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