The Braves may have already tipped their hand on Didier Fuentes.
Atlanta’s pitching staff has been a puzzle all year, with roster limitations making every move feel tighter than it should. The Braves didn’t have much room to maneuver because of a lack of pitchers with minor league options, and that forced them to juggle both the rotation and the bullpen while trying to protect the depth they did have. One of the clearest answers was to push top pitching prospect Didier Fuentes into relief.
That move has worked.
Keeping Martin Perez in the rotation turned out to be a major help, and Fuentes handled the transition to the bullpen without issue. The expectation for a while was that Fuentes would eventually slide back into starting once the season ended, especially given his track record as a starter in the minors. But that assumption may already be fading.
In The Athletic’s preview of Atlanta’s upcoming series against the Phillies, Braves beat writer Jesus Cano suggested Fuentes’ bullpen role could wind up being permanent. He wrote: "After using him as a starter as he rose through the minors, the Braves wanted to develop Fuentes as a reliever in the majors."
That doesn’t read like a short-term detour.
Cano didn’t attach a source to that line, so it appears to be his read on where things are headed. Still, it fits the way Fuentes has been used and the way he has performed. Through 58.1 innings out of the bullpen, he has posted a 1.85 ERA, and that kind of production is hard to walk away from, especially with the uncertainty around Robert Suarez.
The Braves may have entered the season with one idea for Fuentes, but the modern game has a way of changing those plans. Relievers matter more than ever, even if the market doesn’t always pay them like it.
Starters aren’t routinely working deep into games anymore, and teams that can stack reliable arms late tend to separate themselves. Fuentes has become one of those arms for Atlanta, especially in high-leverage spots.
For now, the question won’t be settled immediately. 2026 is already set, and Fuentes will be in the bullpen. There isn’t enough time to stretch him back out even if Atlanta wanted to make the switch. And if this path keeps going the way it has, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see Fuentes open 2027 spring training locked into the Braves’ relief mix.
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