Didier

Fuentes

Fuentes allowed four runs in three innings against the Nationals on Wednesday, but also struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter. The 20-year-old has been good to start the season in Triple-A, and he did mix in his splitter more in this outing than we’ve seen in the past, which is important since he has primarily been a two-pitch pitcher. He still has some work to do on refining his command, but he could be an option for the Braves and fantasy managers over the summer.

Fuentes struck out seven, but he also gave up seven hits, one being a three-run homer off the bat of Daylen Lile. The short start meant Martín Pérez, who could have started Thursday, was needed to pitch three innings behind him, and thus, both pitchers might lose their roster spots tomorrow with JR Ritchie and Carlos Carrasco coming up.

MLB.com’s Mark Bowman confirms that Ritchie will be called up with Didier Fuentes heading back to the minors after needing 74 pitches to complete three frames during Wednesday’s win over the Nationals. His abbreviated outing forced veteran Martín Pérez, who was originally scheduled to start on Thursday, into duty for a long relief outing. The 22-year-old top pitching prospect has posted a sparkling 0.99 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 28/13 K/BB ratio across 27 1/3 innings over five starts for Triple-A Gwinnett this season. There’s some streaming appeal for fantasy purposes, but this figures to be a one-and-done situation for Ritchie.

Fuentes is getting called up and, according to Barrett Sallee of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network. will also start Wednesday’s game against the Nationals. Martín Pérez had originally been slated to start this game, so he will most likely have his start pushed back to later in the weekend. There’s no word yet on whether this is a spot start for Fuentes or if the Braves will move to a six-man rotation or move somebody else out of the rotation. Fuentes has been tremendous in Triple-A with a 2.16 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, and 20/6 K/BB ratio in 16 2/3 innings, so he is a great streamer for today.

Fantasy managers hoping to see top prospects Didier Fuentes or JR Ritchie will have to wait a bit longer. Pérez re-signed with Atlanta after being jettisoned from the club’s active roster earlier this week and electing free agency. The 35-year-old southpaw can be safely ignored in all fantasy leagues.

Pérez was designated for assignment by the Braves last week and passed through waivers unclaimed. He elected free agency but then resigned with Atlanta. While this may not seem like a big deal, it does mean that Pérez could be the starting pitcher called up when the Braves need a fifth starter again on April 21st. That would mean that Didier Fuentes and JR Ritchie could remain in the minors for longer than fantasy managers are hoping.

It comes after Pérez pitched five innings of one-run baseball against to the Guardians, but it took a good amount of luck for those results to take place. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss told reporters he’s not sure who will take Pérez’s spot in the rotation, but there are two intriguing prospects in JR Ritchie and Didier Fuentes who could get the nod. Either would be worthy of fantasy consideration.

Fuentes handed out four free passes while scattering a pair of hits, needing just 86 pitches (51 strikes) to navigate six frames. He averaged 96.9 mph on his fastball and generated 13 swinging strikes. The hard-throwing 20-year-old has fired 9 2/3 scoreless innings over two starts at the Triple-A level and appears close to being ready to join Atlanta’s injury-ravaged rotation. He offers enough strikeout upside to be worthy of a speculative roster spot in deeper mixed leagues.

Fuentes delivered a dominant performance in his return to the minors, piling up 12 swinging strikes while averaging 97.1 mph on his four-seamer. The 20-year-old, who built up his pitch count to 72 (40 strikes) is one of the more intriguing young arms in the league as Atlanta continues to stretch him out before bringing him back to the majors as a starter. It feels like only a matter of weeks before he’s ready for a real shot at the highest level, which makes him a worthwhile stash candidate in extremely deep mixed leagues.

This was part of the speculation when Fuentes was sent down earlier today, but now we have clarity. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports that “Once [Fuentes] gets his pitch count up to 90 over the next couple weeks, there will be a greater chance to see him be part of Atlanta’s rotation over an extended period.” It may be hard to hold Fuentes on your fantasy rosters since we don’t know for sure when he will be up, but it seems like he’s going to get a shot in the Braves’ rotation before April is done.