Braves prospect Didier Fuentes was a healthy scratch from a scheduled start yesterday and could be an option to join the big league pitching staff in the near future. As Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution breaks down, Fuentes’ scratch doesn’t necessarily guarantee a recall to the majors, but the Braves are light on options to summon as they embark on a sequence of 10 games in 10 days. Each of Hayden Harris, Dylan Dodd and Rolddy Muñoz was optioned late last week, meaning they can’t be recalled for 15 days (from the date of their option) unless they’re directly replacing an injured player on the roster. Skipping Fuentes’ start yesterday also helps to manage the promising 20-year-old’s workload after he only pitched 70 total innings (majors and minors combined) in 2025.
Fuentes has been terrific so far in Gwinnett this season. He’s taken the ball three times, tossed a total of 16 2/3 innings and held opponents to four runs (2.16 ERA) on eight hits and six walks with 20 strikeouts. He’s also plunked three batters and tossed a wild pitch, so his command hasn’t exactly been pristine, but the results and bat-missing capabilities are impressive.
Throughout spring training, there were calls from Atlanta fans to plug Fuentes into the rotation — understandably so. To this point in the season, however, there are five Braves pitchers who’ve started multiple games — Chris Sale, Reynaldo López, Grant Holmes, Martín Pérez, Bryce Elder — and none has an ERA higher than 3.42 (Holmes). Despite all the injuries, Atlanta starters remarkably lead the majors with a 2.65 ERA. Metrics like FIP (4.02) and SIERA (4.05) are far more bearish, but it’d be hard for Braves brass to tell any of the current starters he’s losing his place in the rotation. Atlanta already briefly jettisoned Pérez, but he quickly re-signed on a new deal and responded by tossing six shutout innings in Philadelphia on Friday.
None of that includes righty Spencer Strider, who’s working his way back from an oblique injury and could return early next month. The Braves will need to figure out a way to plug Strider back into the rotation whenever he’s cleared to return. Elder looked to be very much on the roster bubble in spring training, but he’s allowed only two earned runs through his first 23 1/3 innings. Pérez, as previously mentioned, just fired six shutout innings on the road against a top division rival. He now has a 2.21 ERA on the year. Perhaps another injury will make the decision easier, but if everyone’s healthy, it’s fair to say that “too many effective starters” isn’t a problem many foresaw Atlanta encountering a few weeks back (though it’s a “problem” they’ll surely welcome with open arms).
On the position-player side of the roster, the Braves will have some decisions looming regarding seldom-used veterans currently holding down bench spots. Catcher Sean Murphy is on a rehab assignment. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim is headed for a simulated game Thursday, manager Walt Weiss told the Atlanta beat (via MLB.com’s Mark Bowman). He could begin a rehab assignment next week himself.
The return of Murphy, on paper, would seem to be bad news for veteran backstop Jonah Heim, who’s 5-for-23 in limited action as the No. 2 catcher behind reigning National League Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin. As Bowman points out, however, infielder Kyle Farmer has only received seven plate appearances all season. The organization loves his presence in the clubhouse, but he’s even more seldom-used than Heim. Keeping Heim over Farmer could allow the Braves to more comfortably use both Baldwin and Murphy in the same lineup, splitting time at catcher and DH, with Heim on hand as an emergency option.
Of course, when Kim returns — likely in mid-May — both Heim and Farmer could be squeezed out. No one on the Braves’ bench can be optioned, so two of Farmer, Heim, Jorge Mateo and Eli White are likely to find themselves displaced, barring other injuries that allow the team to kick those decisions down the road a bit.
Mateo has hit quite well, albeit in a tiny sample of 20 plate appearances. His prior track record doesn’t create much optimism about him sustaining this pace, but he’s still an elite runner with 98th-percentile sprint speed (per Statcast) and some defensive versatility. White has been the team’s worst hitter … in a similarly tiny sample of 22 plate appearances. He’s a terrific outfield defender, however, and Statcast measures his sprint speed even better than Mateo, placing him at the very top of the MLB scale with 30.4 feet per second (100th percentile).
Braves bullpen has been real good too.
Incredibly impressed with the performance of the Braves so far this year, given the injuries and all.
Of the four starters the Braves were counting on who got hurt this spring, three should be back in 2026. Strider sounds like he’s about 17 days away, and the other two, Schwell and Waldrep, look more like 45 to 60 days out. AJSS and Wentz should be back by 2027 too.
If this current chicken-wire-and-duct-tape rotation can somehow hold together until then, it would be an incredible and honestly surprising gift. As those starters come back, three of the current rotation arms could slide into the bullpen, which would strengthen that group too.
Fuentes and JR Ritchie keep building and look MLB-ready if the Braves need them in a pinch. By the 2027, Atlanta could realistically have 11 or 12 MLB-ready starters under contract. AJSS and Wentz should be back, and Braun, Murphy, Baumann, and others could be close as well.
There’s also a pretty long list of bullpen arms on the way. If the Braves can just hold on until Strider returns, Perez could move to the pen as a long man. Then if Holmes and Lopez join the bullpen when Schwell and Waldrep get back, that staff gets even stronger.
Maybe the idea that the Braves absolutely had to add one, two, or even three more starting pitchers last offseason was overstated. Yes, they’ve gotten a little lucky, and the numbers suggest these starters have been dancing between the raindrops. But if Strider is back in about 17 days, Waldrep in around 35 or so, and Schwell in 50 to 60, with Fuentes able to drop in when needed, the Braves could go from barely hanging on to having real pitching depth.
I am completely shocked by Elder’s performance thus far. I’m a Braves fan and didn’t think they were a playoff caliber team.
I’m not ready to think they are yet but April has been nice, especially when compared to April 2025.
Assuming Strider can regain his level of performance pre injury, they have a #2 starter returning soon.
#3-5 in the rotation will be interesting to watch. I think it’s gotta be Lopez #3, Holmes #4 and Elder #5. All depending on performance obviously.
They can put Perez in the bullpen as a long reliever as someone here suggested.
Schwellenbach seemed like the real deal but you never know how injuries will affect a pitcher upon returning.
I really loved watching Waldrep take his repertoire up a notch after working with Sean Murphy.
I really hope both of them are healthy first and foremost. Not rushed back.
They’re winning despite Acuna struggling, so anything is possible!
Hard for me to see Strider as a #2 with the loss of velocity. Very comfortable with Sale throwing a Game 1 in any October playoff series. I don’t think we have our #2 on the roster yet ..enter trade deadline! Very serviceable 3’s through 5’s with depth…some of which could be trade bait in preparation for October.