The Atlanta Braves will need all hands-on deck this season to fill the starting rotation. Dealing with so many injuries, others like 20-year-old Didier Fuentes will need to step up.

Fuentes had a taste of what Major League Baseball was like — pitching in four games with a 0-3 record and a 13.85 ERA. Likely to start the season in Triple-A, Fuentes has nine strikeouts in five innings this spring. Fuentes’ success, along with the Braves’ mounting injuries, begs the question: Should Fuentes break camp with the Braves?

Atlanta Braves Prospect is Making a Strong Case to Make the Team
The Atlanta Braves’ Injuries Leave an Opening for Didier Fuentes

Given that the Braves have lost so many pitchers to injuries, Fuentes should be in consideration for a spot. Right-handers Spencer Schwellenback and Hurston Waldep will miss time after having elbow procedures.

Left-hander Joey Wentz was the latest casualty, tearing his ACL after colliding with a Tampa Bay Rays base runner. Right-handers Grant Holmes — who struck out nine in five innings on March 12 — Reynaldo Lopez, Bryce Elder, and left-hander Martin Perez offer other options.

The Braves’ injuries in 2024 led Fuentes to jump four levels (High-A to MLB). In 13 starts, Fuentes was 1-7 with a 4.58 ERA and struck out 71 in 57.0 innings.

Didier Fuentes is a Braves top prospect, but not an MLB top prospect

Fuentes is the Braves’ third-best prospect behind left-hander Cam Caminiti (No. 1) and right-hander JR Ritchie (No. 2). Ritchie, 22, also has a chance to make the Braves’ rotation, given the injuries. Ritchie is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA and struck out 14 in 12.0 innings.

Despite being the Braves’ third-best prospect, Fuentes didn’t make MLB’s top 100 prospects list. Fuentes’s call-up to the big leagues last season may have had a hand in it.

Didier Fuentes Could be a Potential Ace for the Braves, But He Still Has to Develop

According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, Fuentes has the potential to be a future Ace for the Braves. However, it will depend on whether Fuentes can develop a third pitch.

“Fuentes, the Braves’ No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline, has looked like a future ace and somebody who is far more ready than he was when he was rushed into action last summer just days after his 20th birthday. Fuentes’ four-seamer has sat in the upper 90s and the sweeper he threw last year has become a slider because it’s now registering in the upper 80s. There’s a need to develop a third pitch. But as long as Fuentes stays healthy, he could find himself back in the Majors at some point this year. — Mark Bowman”

On MLB’s 20-80 scale — 20 is the worst, and 80 is the best — Fuentes has an above-average (60) fastball. Fuentes’s four-seam fastball can top out at 98 and averages over 95mph.

Fuentes has a four-pitch mix: four-seam fastball, slider, curveball, and a splitter. Developing his splitter to pair with his fastball will add to Fuentes swing-and-miss ability.
Fuentes has a handful of opportunities left to show manager Walt Weiss why he should make the team. With Ritchie being his main competition, the battle for the final spots in the rotation could intensify. 

Main Photo Credits: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images