There’s a lot brewing on the pitching front down on the Braves farm, and it’s starting to feel like it could impact the big-league club any day now.

Spencer Strider just made his second rehab start and looked every bit like himself again. Over 65 pitches, he struck out five and allowed just two baserunners across 4.1 scoreless innings. The velocity, the life on the fastball — it’s all trending in the right direction.

Then there are the young arms.

JR Ritchie is coming off six scoreless innings and now owns a ridiculous 0.99 ERA through his first four starts. Right alongside him, Didier Fuentes has been just as impressive, posting a 2.16 ERA with a 0.84 WHIP and 10.8 K/9 through three outings with Gwinnett.

All three have a real chance to impact Atlanta at some point this season, and one of them might be on the way sooner than expected.

Didier Fuentes was scratched from his most recent start as a precaution, with the Braves in the middle of a 10-games-in-10-days stretch. A decision that’s starting to look very wise after what transpired last night.

Reynaldo López labored through just one inning on Tuesday, needing 58 pitches to record three outs before getting pulled in the second. That outing put serious strain on a bullpen that’s already dealing with the loss of closer Raisel Iglesias, who was placed on the IL with shoulder inflammation.

Atlanta has some other moves they could make, but if they’re looking for someone to cover multiple innings, Fuentes is clearly their best option right now. It wouldn’t be surprising at all if he gets the call ahead of Wednesday’s matchup with the Nationals.

And if he delivers again — like he did earlier this season when he spun four innings of one-run ball against the Royals — the conversation could shift quickly from short-term fill-in to something much more permanent. There’s not much left for him or JR Ritchie to prove at the Triple-A level.

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(Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)