The North Port Report: Does Didier Fuentes Needs an Opening Day Roster Spot?

Here's everything you need to know from Braves Spring Training in North Port, FL from Friday

Welcome to The North Port Report, your nightly notebook from Braves spring training. Each evening, we’ll run through the biggest developments from camp: roster battles, injury updates, standout performances, and the small details that matter more than they seem in mid-March. The games may not count yet, but the information does.

Here’s what stood out today

Youngster Didier Fuentes got the start today and looked fantastic, striking out five with no hits or walks in his three innings. There was more growth with his velocity, sitting 97.1 mph on the four-seamer and even coming in over 85 on his revamped sweeper. He traded a bit of horizontal movement for more velo, throwing it roughly 3.5 mph harder, and anecdotally having better locations with it, too.

While I’m still not convinced in the splitter - he only got one swing and no whiffs with it while not throwing any of the seven in the strike zone - the package is definitely good enough to get major leaguers like Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, and Ryan McMahon to not only strikeout, but look silly while doing it. We’ll talk more tomorrow about a potential Opening Day role for Fuentes.

Dylan Dodd was next up, allowing a run on two hits in his inning of work. Several of Atlanta’s MLB relievers all gave clean innings with two strikeouts, including Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez, and Aaron Bummer, before prospect Ian Mejia got tagged for five runs in the final frame.

On the offensive side, the Braves sent the entire lineup to the plate in the first inning, scoring four runs. Mauricio Dubón led off with a homer and after Ozzie Albies doubled, three RBI singles from Austin Riley, Jonah Heim, and Kyle Farmer kept the line moving. Atlanta added two more runs in the 6th when the bottom of the order all got on and backup Ambioris Tavarez picked up an RBI single. Mike Yastrzemski had a walk and a hard-hit grounder off of lefty starter Ryan Weathers, for what it’s worth.

Quick Hits

• Newly-minted Hall of Fame inductee and team legend Andruw Jones, fresh off of leading Team Netherlands in the WBC, was in the dugout and in uniform for today’s game.

• Gwinnett Stripers legend Jonathan Ornelas absolutely terrorized Ian Mejia in the 9th inning with a massive home run on an elevated slider; it was 113 off the bat and went 460 feet. Maybe don’t throw your sliders there, yeah?

  • This is, as the kids say, a nuke.

• Bryce Elder is the scheduled starter on Saturday at home versus Boston. The Red Sox are sending youngster Brayan Bello on the road trip.

• UPDATE: Just minutes after this story was published, the Braves made some more roster cuts. Both SS John Gil and RHP Tayler Scott have been reassigned to minor league camp, giving Atlanta 47 active players in camp at the moment.

Roster Battle Tracker

Stock UP

Kyle Farmer. The hopeful DH against left-handed pitching, Farmer picked up three more hits today, scoring once and driving in another run. He’s consistently performed in spring training, sitting 13-27 with a homer and a double, and while he hasn’t shown a ton of power this spring, he currently appears to be a good enough hitter and defender to potentially supplant Jorge Mateo as the backup shortstop on the Opening Day roster.

Stock DOWN

Dylan Dodd. I know that MLB.com’s Mark Bowman had Dodd virtually as a given in his latest Opening Day projection, but I don’t think it’s that simple for the optionable lefty. Dodd got his trademark cutter hit hard today for a double, and that, combined with his continued inability to keep his sinker out of the top of the zone, has me wondering if he’s really going to be the third lefty and long man in the pen. He has reverse platoon splits, doing significantly better against righties than lefties, so he’s not filling a traditional role of a lefty out of the pen for you, either.

Observation of the Day

This starting offense looks pretty good, even without Ronald Acuña Jr. (who is still with Team Venezuela at the WBC). I’m hopeful that if even 90% of this carries over to the regular season, we’re going to see the Braves offense be a threat the likes of which we haven’t seen since 2023.

(I’m not saying they’ll be the 2023 offense - that was a once-in-a-generation confluence of everyone hitting their 90th percentile outcomes - but being a clear strength and the driving factor of the team would be nice.)

Tomorrow’s watch list

Bryce Elder needs a bounce-back outing in spring. I’m particularly interested in his four-seam velocity, as its growth down the stretch was one of the factors behind his exceptional finish to the season.

Reminder: There likely won’t be an edition of The North Port Report tomorrow, as I’m traveling and will be out of pocket. Hopefully back on Sunday.