Alex Anthopoulos has a lot to unknowns to resolve when it comes to Atlanta’s rotation. Tyler Mahle and Martín Pérez are both free agents, while Anthopoulos acknowledged on Sunday that the Braves cannot rely on Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider getting back to full health and ace-level form.
But the path towards replacing the playoff-caliber production of Mahle, Schwellenbach, and Strider might start with Didier Fuentes, even if expecting 30 starts or 150 innings isn’t a good idea.
The 21-year-old was electric as a reliever for the Braves this season, putting up a 2.05 ERA as a reliever across 70.1 innings and then adding another seven innings of postseason work.
Anthopoulos and the Braves view him as a starter long-term, and don’t have any choice but to bring him to camp as one next spring. Let’s talk about it.
Fuentes is still viewed as a starter
As Atlanta has maintained nearly every time it’s come up this season, the organization’s long-term view of Fuentes is as a starting pitcher. He entered camp this year as one, and he will next year, too.
Yes, even though he didn’t finish the year as a starter.
The reason for this is that the starter-to-reliever move is mostly a one-way decision, as Anthopoulos explained, telling us, “It's always easy to shorten a guy up.” And they believe there’s still a lot of untapped potential there, health permitting.
“We think there's obviously tremendous upside in terms of starting. […] the upside's certainly there. I mean, so much so that I've even talked to some of our players about it, our vets.”
Anthopoulos referenced his improved fastball command, as well as the development of his seldom-used secondary pitches throughout the season. The slider’s a bit inconsistent, but the potential of the pitch is there. And as far as his offspeed is concerned, it’s not a splitter; it’s a changeup, per AA.
“I know everyone calls it a splitter. I asked him, “Why does everybody call it a splitter when it’s a changeup? Is it a splitter or a change?” He said it’s 100% a changeup.”
Anthopoulos observed that there are still some questions to be answered, however, both in workload over an outing and over a season.
The problem is volume, not ability
The issue for the youngster has been volume, not the quality of his relief work. He’s been excellent when he’s taken the ball, but maintaining that quality over an extended outing or the course of a full season is the concern with trying to stretch him back out.
Anthopoulos noted that he’s not landing his pitches the same as the outing progresses into a second trip through the lineup, something to work on through building stamina. “The command of the fastball - There were times where he had two innings, 40-pitch outings (due to) foul balls. He’d miss armside to left-handed hitters.”
And even if the consistency of the slider improves and he can maintain his delivery and locations throughout an outing, there are questions about exactly how often he can get the ball over the course of a season out of the rotation.
“What you don’t know is the workload, right? Can you handle 25-plus starts, 150 to 180 innings? We’ll have to have those conversations. And then can you do that in 2027? Are you gonna go from 70-plus innings and you’re gonna jump to whatever it is?”
And what Anthopoulos is missing in his comment is that Fuentes actually had a higher workload this season. When you combine his Gwinnett usage (16⅔ innings), MLB regular season (73⅓), and seven postseason innings, 97 competitive innings begins to paint a different picture of what might be possible.
The Braves have not subscribed to strict innings limits under Anthopoulos, preferring to take each pitcher on a case-by-case basis based on how the ball’s coming out. The general rule of thumb in MLB, however, is that a 70-inning reliever is looking at around 130-ish effective innings the next season once he moves to the rotation.
But if you’re basing the projection off of his 97-inning total, the possibilities start to grow:
130 innings would be a 34% increase.
150 would be a 55% increase.
180 would be an 86% increase.
But even without a predetermined cap, there is a meaningful difference between preparing Fuentes to start and expecting him to supply 30 starts.
And even if 150 innings were possible, can Atlanta afford to count Fuentes as one of their five dependable rotation options entering the offseason, especially with Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach also carrying their own workload uncertainty? I don’t think they can.
At the end of the day, Fuentes may be capable of starting major-league games in 2027 without being capable of supplying a full starter’s workload. And understanding that distinction is critical for both Anthopoulos and Atlanta’s chances in 2027.
Why spring training matters
The advantage of spring training is that the coaching staff gets an opportunity to see Fuentes in action and evaluate his offseason work, likely their first opportunity to see him owing to the pending lockout that the owners will institute in December.
By then, the Braves will hope Fuentes has refined his pre-start routine and built the endurance required to turn over a lineup multiple times over a winter of preparation for a starting role.
And for Anthopoulos, there’s a pivot point they can make if they’re not convinced his offseason prep has him in a place to start games for Atlanta in 2027. “Depending on how the off-season goes, how he looks, how it goes, we can always say, ‘All right, we're gonna shorten you up. You're gonna go one or two innings,’ and so on.”
And even if he is ready, if either the rotation is already full of established veterans or the bullpen needs him, the pivot is easy.
This is the way it has to be done, because reversing this order makes things much harder. The Braves can cut down a starter’s workload and use them in relief. It’s a lot longer ordeal to manufacture a prepared starter in June.
What his 2027 role could look like
There are a few different ways this could play out, depending on rotation need, Fuentes’ offseason preparation, and the status of the bullpen entering 2027.
The best and highest use is as a starter in the majors. Counting on Fuentes to be in the top of the rotation would be a mistake, but him competing for the #5 spot in camp is a low-risk way to reintroduce him to the starting rotation for next season.
If he doesn’t win that starting role and they want him to stay stretched out, using his final remaining minor league option to send him to Gwinnett would absolutely be a possibility. The upside of that decision is he can have his workload managed by starting just once a week in the minors, who have almost every Monday off and typically can afford to back off of someone’s workload.
The downside of sending him to Gwinnett is that he would be firing some of his limited bullets in the minors instead of helping Atlanta.
The potential compromise would be keeping him partially stretched out as a multi-inning reliever or bulk pitcher, doing two-to-four-inning appearances and occasional piggyback work. It would not leave him ready to throw six innings on demand, but it would shorten the buildup required if Atlanta eventually needed him in the rotation.
Or, obviously, they can move him straight back into a high-leverage role in the bullpen and use the offseason prep to start as confidence that his stuff can stand up when they need him for the occasional multiple-inning outing.
The important thing here isn’t where he ends up, honestly; it’s how the decision gets made. Anthopoulos and Atlanta need to add enough rotation depth this offseason so that this Fuentes decision can be made based on his development, not desperation created by another rotation injury.
The Braves can always ask Didier Fuentes to pitch fewer innings. Their responsibility this offseason is to make the additions necessary to preserve the possibility that he eventually gives them more.