Not a ton has gone right for the Braves over the last three weeks, but Didier Fuentes is a beaming light who keeps flashing why he’s become arguably the most important arm in the entire organization.
In a game it felt like Atlanta had to have on Sunday to avoid a sweep, Fuentes relieved Tyler Mahle in the fifth inning, inheriting runners on first and second with nobody out. No problem. He forced the first batter he faced into a double play, and another grounder ended the inning. He then pitched around a couple of singles in the seventh to preserve a two-run lead.
Fuentes now owns a sub-2.00 ERA since moving to the bullpen, with a 2.25 FIP over his last 45 appearances. For a guy who just turned 21, that’s absurd.
And the best part? He appears to be adding tools to the chest in the middle of the season.
On Sunday, Fuentes showcased a diving sinker — an offering that topped out at 99 MPH and averaged well over a foot of arm-side run — adding to a fastball/slider/splitter mix that’s already been enough on its own to eviscerate pretty much anything in its path. Pitchers don’t typically develop new weapons in late August. Fuentes is doing it while pitching the highest-leverage innings on a first-place team.
Come the postseason — assuming the Braves get there — it’s very possible he is this club’s most important pitcher not named Chris Sale. His velocity and strikeout ability is something nobody else in the bullpen can replicate — at least as long as Robert Suarez remains sidelined with an elbow injury. But even more importantly, his ability to go multiple innings, bridging the gap between the starter and Atlanta’s other high-leverage arms, is going to be the only way this pitching staff holds up against the best offenses in the sport.
The Braves’ rotation, outside of Sale, is built on guys who can only go four or five innings before the wheels start wobbling. In a playoff series, that math only works if somebody can reliably eat the sixth and seventh without handing the game away. Fuentes slots perfectly into that role, and it’s possible the Braves turn to him for even more than a couple of innings if the situation calls for it.
As far as his role in the future, that’s really a conversation for another day. Some want Fuentes to be the closer of the future, but that line of thinking is probably selling him short. He has the ceiling of a dominant frontline starter. He’s already pretty damn good with three pitches. If he can get comfortable with four or five, he could be the guy who leads the Braves’ rotation once we’re past the Chris Sale years.
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(Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire)