The mask, shin guards and chest protector will all be there if Alan Baldwin needs it.

For now though, a glove and a bat will suffice.

The University of Hawaii junior has found a permanent home in either of the corner outfield spots for the Rainbow Warriors this season and has taken advantage of finally being healthy for a full year.

The Kailua High graduate is one of three ’Bows to play in every game this season and is hitting .269 with two doubles and 11 RBIs. He belted his first career home run in a win over Pepperdine and went 5-for-5 with a triple and a stolen base last Saturday against UC Irvine.

“Putting him in the outfield I think has kind of freed his mind a little and let him focus on the offensive end and he’s really blossomed,” Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “The position change really helped him. I thought he put a lot of pressure on himself as a catcher and put a lot of focus on his catching abilities.”

Baldwin lost close to three full seasons of catching due to injuries.

An injury to the rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder prevented him from catching for most of his senior year with the Surfriders and was part of the reason he redshirted his first year at UH.

The following year, in the last practice before opening night, Baldwin got his hand caught behind the plate against the padding and tore a ligament in his wrist that required surgery after the season.

He played in 19 games and hit three doubles in 38 at-bats, but wasn’t able to show off the defensive skills that got him drafted out of high school by the Tampa Bay Rays.

“It was tough because I picked up some bad habits trying to compensate (for the injury) and then after the season it was back to the drawing board again,” Baldwin said. “The funny thing is up until I first got hurt, I played every single game, every day, caught both games of a doubleheader, and I never had a problem, I never got sore and my arm never got tired.”

Baldwin didn’t expect to get drafted after the injury and went out diving and spearfishing with some friends during the final day of the draft.

When he got back to the car, his phone had “blown up” with texts and missed calls. He said his sister followed the entire draft, all the way to pick No. 1,500 when Baldwin’s name was called in the 49th round.

“I wasn’t expecting it after the injury,” Baldwin said.

He admitted his arm isn’t as strong as it was before the injury, but he’s still capable of throwing runners out. In the three games he’s caught this season, he threw out two of the three runners trying to steal.

He has three outfield assists this season, throwing out runners trying to score from second against both Oregon and Oklahoma, and he’s made just one error in his last 25 games.

After homering against the Waves to raise his average to .354, Baldwin went through a 3-for-26 slump to drop his average to .241.

He’s hit safely in six of his past 10 games and became the first UH player since Breland Almadova in 2011 and sixth in Trapasso’s 14 years as head coach to have five hits in a single game in last Saturday’s 6-4 loss to UC Irvine.

“It was kind of funny because before the game I had probably the worst (batting practice) I’ve ever had,” Baldwin said. “I was telling a couple of the guys that I had such a bad BP that maybe I’ll go off today.”

Baldwin has grown from a guy who lost his uniform within his first week of practice as a freshman to a leader who still has a lot of untapped potential.

The added year he’ll have next season because he redshirted will give him an opportunity to improve on his 1,500th overall selection in the draft four summers ago.

“He’s such a good young man with tremendous character, which isn’t a surprise if you met his parents,” Trapasso said. “It’s been fun to watch his development from a maturity standpoint. 

“He’s become a physical, athletic baseball player. There’s nothing that tells me next year, with the incremental improvements each year that he’s made, that he can’t be a .300 hitter for us.”