(Anthopoulogy is Braves Today’s running series where we step into the shoes of President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos and focus on roster construction questions — evaluating trade targets, internal options, lineup usage, and the cost-benefit math behind potential moves. These are shorter, focused breakdowns built around one question at a time.)
Putting a starting pitching prospect in the bullpen isn’t an unfamiliar concept for Alex Anthopoulos’ Braves teams. Only nine of Max Fried’s first 23 MLB appearances were as a starter, with the rest coming in the 2017 and 2018 bullpens. Spencer Strider broke into the majors as a reliever in 2022 before being moved to the rotation in the back half of that season, while AJ Smith-Shawver jumped from High-A to the majors by May and debuted out of the bullpen in 2023.
Do the Braves need to take the same strategy with Didier Fuentes? The answer isn’t as obvious as Fuentes’ electric stuff might suggest. Let’s talk about it.
Should Fuentes be in the bullpen on Opening Day?
I asked Alex Anthopoulos about the perception that the organization is reluctant to use starting pitching prospects out of the bullpen. It’s not intentional, he told me, but rather a combination of having better MLB options and trying to make sure the prospects got guaranteed innings that made them leave the starter prospects in Gwinnett’s rotation.
“In the minor leagues, you stick to these guys in the rotation from a development standpoint, right? Even though you ultimately might believe that they’re relievers, you want them to get as many reps as they can, as many innings as they can have, bullpens, side work, go deep into the games. You have a guy in the minors who’s a one-inning reliever, you might have a 10-pitch inning and not really get to work on things.”
Fuentes might be good enough to do it, though
The difference here is that attrition has narrowed the team’s options throughout camp. At the beginning of camp, the long men in the pen appeared to be some combination of starters Bryce Elder and Joey Wentz, based on Alex Anthopoulos’ comments early in spring.
But after injuries to three different starting pitchers, including a season-ender to Wentz, Elder is now in the rotation and it’s an open question as to who of José Suarez, Martín Pérez, or someone else will serve as the long man (or if one of them will be asked to be the 6th starter in the season’s first two weeks, with thirteen games scheduled in thirteen days).
With mostly uninspiring options ahead of him, the temptation to bring Fuentes to Truist Park at the end of the month comes down to his potential and his stuff. Already a lively arm when he debuted last year (avg 4S velo was 96 mph), Fuentes averaged 97.4 mph in his first start of spring, which came last week, and sat 97.1 in a longer outing on Friday. While his fastball has just average shape, he throws it from an exceptionally low release point and gets an outlier low Vertical Approach Angle of 1.8°, making the ball appear to rise toward the plate and allowing for exceptional fastball performance up in the zone.
To back up his fastball, he threw his new gyro slider in both games, replacing last season’s sweeper, and broke out a newer splitter on Friday, as well. It’s one of the highest-performing pitch packages on the Braves roster by Stuff+, whether among starters or relievers.
He’s not a finished product
Friday’s outing, as impressive as it was, showed that he’s not a finished product. Fuentes got seven whiffs on 22 swings and finished with a 36% CSW1, failed to induce chase with the splitter while also struggling to land it in the zone.
While it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he succeeds with primarily just a four-seam and slider - see 2023 Spencer Strider - it would also be risky to set Fuentes up for failure a second time by promoting him to the majors without a reliable third pitch, as happened when he debuted last year.
Also, the Braves don’t need him in the bullpen
The other complicating factor here is that the Braves have plenty of options for their bullpen this year, arguably too many to include. Reliever James Karinchak, who appears to be back to the dominant form he showed in Cleveland after multiple seasons lost to injury, was reassigned to minor league camp earlier this week because he’s not on the 40-man roster and the Braves needed to prioritize a long man for the season’s early stretch.
They’re currently evaluating several of those options, including top prospect JR Ritchie and the aforementioned Suarez and Perez. Suarez has the roster math in his favor, being both on the 40-man roster and out of options, while Pérez has the veteran experience (279 career starts and over 1600 career innings). Ritchie has the Prospect Promotion Incentive eligibility and the robust, well-rounded package that should allow him to at least tread water at the major league level, rather than sinking at the first sign of adversity.
Counterpoint: Fuentes could be ELITE
There’s no disputing that Didier Fuentes has one of the most electric and unusual pitches in the system with his four-seam fastball, outperforming the pitches from the other options mentioned above.
Additionally, being on the major league roster and working with both veteran pitchers and pitching coaches Jeremy Hefner and assistant JP Martinez is an opportunity that shouldn’t be understated. In just a few short weeks of spring training, we’ve already seen the work those two have been able to do with a new pitch from Wentz (two-seamer) as well as tweaked versions of existing pitches like Grant Holmes’ previously awful four-seam fastball, Reynaldo López’s changeup, and JR Ritchie’s ‘Vulcan split’. If there was ever a place for Fuentes to learn and develop that third pitch, it’s in the majors with the best possible instruction and knowledge around him.
So, what should the Braves do here?
Understanding that putting Fuentes on the Opening Day roster likely means sacrificing a depth piece like José Suarez (out of options) or Martín Pérez (potential opt-out), the upside of getting Fuentes major league ready this season as compared to next can’t be overstated. He’s either going to use his second minor league option when he gets sent down for Opening Day or two weeks later if this doesn’t work, but if it does work, the Braves have suddenly bought themselves some high-level insurance against more rotation injuries or underperformance in 2026.
Ultimately, though, the Braves probably shouldn’t rush Didier Fuentes onto the Opening Day roster.
The upside is obvious. Few pitchers in the organization can match the raw electricity of his fastball, and the idea of pairing that with a slider in short bursts out of the bullpen is undeniably appealing. In a vacuum, Fuentes might even be one of the best pure arms competing for the final pitching spot.
But development still matters.
Fuentes is still searching for a reliable third pitch, and history shows that the Braves prefer to give young starters those developmental reps in a rotation rather than in sporadic bullpen usage. Gwinnett provides exactly that environment - guaranteed innings, opportunities to refine the splitter, and the ability to build toward a more complete arsenal.
That doesn’t mean Fuentes won’t help the Braves this year.
If injuries pile up again or his splitter takes a step forward in Triple-A, the conversation about bringing him to Atlanta could change quickly. When that happens, the Braves may not be debating whether Fuentes belongs on the roster - only whether he’s ready to impact games in meaningful innings.
And when that day comes, it might not be far away.
That’s the question in front of the Braves.
If the right move is there, they’ll make it. If not, they’ll trust the depth. Either way, we’ll be tracking it.
Called Strikes plus Whiffs, a measure of a pitcher’s ability to get strikes either through location or swing-and-miss
A well written and well thought out analysis! These decisions are what GMs, managers, and coaches are paid to do. They should not be left to the “fans”.
Would Fuentes qualify for Prospect Promotion Incentive?