How Acquired
The Braves signed Didier Fuentes as an international free agent from Colombia in the 2022 class. Fuentes was hardly the headliner in that class, as he received a more modest $75k bonus in the class that was headlined by Diego Benitez.
What Were Expectations?
Expectations were high for Fuentes in 2025 coming off a breakout 2024 with Augusta, where he pitched to a 2.74 ERA and 1.02 WHIP with 98 strikeouts over 75.2 innings as a 19-year-old. Fuentes had been a guy with potential before then,
but it was his 2024 breakout that really saw his stock rise.
2025 Results
Fuentes skyrocketed through the minors in 2025. He made just three starts with Rome, then five with Columbus, prior to his promotion to Gwinnett. After just one start with Gwinnett he found himself promoted to Atlanta, making his debut just three days after his 20th birthday. He struggled a bit in Atlanta, as it was clear he wasn’t quite ready for the big leagues, but he finished out the season making four more starts in Triple-A before his season ended early due to injury.
In his 13 minor league starts he went 1-7 with a 4.58 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 71 strikeouts to 16 walks over 57 innings pitched. He also made four starts with the Braves, posting a 13.85 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 13 innings.
What Went Right?
Fuentes actually improved upon his breakout 2024. The ERA doesn’t tell you the whole story, but he did an excellent job prior to his call up, as well as after. He allowed 7.7 hits per nine with 2.5 walks and allowed three or fewer runs in 10 of his 13 starts, with the other three seeing him allow four, four, and six (five earned) runs. Fuentes was pretty much in complete control and carving up the lineups in front of him, which is how he kept getting promoted so quickly this season.
Fuentes also did a great job to rebound from his big league struggles to show it didn’t kill his confidence. After allowing seven runs in 6.2 innings in his first two starts after his demotion, his final two starts before going down were excellent. Fuentes one run on six hits and two walks with 16 strikeouts over 11 innings in those two final games.
What Went Wrong?
Outside of the injury that ended his season early, the only thing you could say went wrong was his time in Atlanta. He had a solid enough start in his debut versus the Marlins if you just read the box score (5 innings, 4 runs), but the Marlins were hitting him hard according to the underlying data. He then proceeded to allow 16 runs over his next eight innings, including eight in his final big league start. This was just a result of him not being ready and the Braves rotation being decimated by injuries, though he probably should have been sent down sooner.
2026 Outlook
Fuentes is expected to be healthy for the start of 2026 and is very likely to begin the year in Triple-A. That should be no surprise considering he doesn’t turn 21 until mid-June and he only has 44 innings in the upper minors to date. There really shouldn’t be anything from his big league experience that diminishes his profile, as he still looks like a potential middle of the rotation arm – just one who needs a little bit more time and experience before he is ready for the big leagues.
