The Braves pitching staff is amid quite the dilemma.

Because Reynaldo Lopez only recorded three outs on Tuesday, the bullpen was forced to cover basically the entire game, which left many of them unavailable on Wednesday.

As a result, the Braves turned to one of their top prospects in Didier Fuentes, who didn’t pitch terribly on Wednesday but only made it through three innings. That left Walt Weiss with no choice but to pitch Martin Perez, who was originally scheduled to start on Wednesday but was pushed back to make way for Fuentes.

The plan was to start Fuentes Wednesday, Perez on Thursday, Elder on Friday, Holmes on Saturday, and push Sale all the way back to Sunday for some extra rest. Prior to the re-shuffling, Sale was slated to pitch on regular rest on Thursday.

Now, the Braves could just return to that because of the circumstances. But they seem to be placing a priority on giving Sale some extra rest throughout the season to make sure he stays healthy. It makes sense if that’s what he prefers. There’s no single more valuable piece to the team right now than the left-handed ace.

By moving Sale to Sunday, the Braves would be putting him in a spot where he wouldn’t have to pitch on regular rest until May 19th. That’s pretty notable, so what’s the alternative?

How about another one of the Braves top prospects?

JR Ritchie is currently the second-ranked prospect in the organization and has been absolutely untouchable early on in Gwinnett, boasting a 0.99 ERA over his first four starts. He’s proven just about everything he can in the minors and will be on regular rest Thursday if that’s the direction the Braves decide to go.

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(Photo by Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire)