The Braves may have found another young arm worth watching, and this one is arriving with real bite out of the bullpen.
Hurston Fuentes has become impossible to miss during his first extended run in the majors. The 21-year-old, who turned 21 on June 17 and hasn’t yet gone beyond 75 2/3 innings in a season, has given Atlanta exactly the kind of jolt it needed while the rotation has been battered by injuries. What started as a practical move - getting him on the roster and easing him in as a possible long reliever or spot starter - has turned into something far more encouraging.
Fuentes was initially optioned to Triple-A, where the Braves said they wanted him stretched back out as a starter. But after one brief start on April 22, his work has come entirely in relief. And the results have been loud: a 2.59 ERA over 31 1/3 big league innings, 36 strikeouts, and a meaningful role in a bullpen that leads MLB with a 2.77 ERA and sits fourth in fWAR at 3.7.
Atlanta has already built a reputation for turning young talent into big-league impact, and Fuentes fits that lane. The Braves did it with a 23-year-old ace and a 21-year-old Rookie of the Year in Spencer Strider and Michael Harris II in 2022, then got another Rookie of the Year season from 24-year-old catcher Drake Baldwin in 2025.
Fuentes was never expected to arrive with much upper-minors seasoning either; before this season, he had thrown just 44 total innings at Double-A and Triple-A. Strider had logged 64 innings at the upper levels before his 2022 breakout.
This version of Fuentes has been a different pitcher than the one Braves fans saw last year, when he went 0-3 with a 13.85 ERA in four starts across June and July. In 2025, he’s been used as a fireman, a setup man and even a closer, and he’s handled all of it with authority. He’s also the first pitcher 21 or younger to appear in at least 25 games with an ERA under 3 since Michael Soroka in 2019 - a list that also includes Clayton Kershaw, José Fernández, Pedro Martínez and Dwight Gooden.
The fastball is the foundation. Fuentes’ four-seamer averages 96.9 mph and has touched 100.1 mph, and while it doesn’t have elite vertical movement, his low arm angle and strong extension make the pitch hard to square up. Opponents are hitting .227 against it, with an expected batting average of .225.
There’s a simple reason the heater plays up so well: he brings unusual velocity from that slot. Fuentes’ arm angle is 24 degrees, the same as Joe Ryan, Brady Singer, Merrill Kelly, Michael King and Bryan Woo, but none of them average as much velocity on their fastball. Short bullpen bursts help, of course, but the early returns still point to a pitch that can carry him.
Sunday was a small reminder that even the best young arms have off nights. In a loss to the Giants, Fuentes allowed just his second earned run of the month in one-third of an inning, and his fastball averaged 95 mph, dipping as low as 92.5 mph. Fuentes said he was healthy and simply felt like he pitched poorly.
Even so, the broader profile remains strong. His slider, which he throws about 26% of the time, averages 86.4 mph and carries a 34.2% whiff rate, giving him a reliable second weapon behind the fastball he uses 67.2% of the time. The Braves would like a splitter to become a legitimate third pitch, a reminder that this is still a work in progress.
And that may be the most intriguing part. Atlanta expects Fuentes to move back toward starting in future seasons, which means the pitcher he is now may only be the beginning. For the Braves, the early version has already been good enough.
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