Top prospects Drake Baldwin and AJ Smith-Shawver have garnered most of the buzz out of North Port this spring. However, those two top prospects aren't the only young Atlanta Braves' making a statement this spring.
Yesterday evening, a loads of Braves youngsters took on fellow rising prospects from the Tigers organization. There was a ton of hype entering this game considering pitchers like Spencer Schwellenbach and Owen Murphy were apart of last year's Spring Breakout game. This year, more than a few Braves' prospects showcased their talent, but none more so than the team's 12th ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, RHP Didier Fuentes.
19-year-old @Braves prospect Didier Fuentes claims the #SpringBreakout strikeout lead in dominant fashion 💎
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 16, 2025
3 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 0 BB | 7 K pic.twitter.com/5D1ZeSejBF
Braves prospect Didier Fuentes piles up the strikeouts in Spring Breakout game
Right-handed pitchers JR Ritchie and Garrett Baumann were the two highest ranked prospects to participate in this year's Spring Breakout game. However, neither of them faired quite as well as the team's 12th ranked prospect Didier Fuentes.
It's hard to do much better than Fuentes did in his three innings of work yesterday. Across those three frames, Fuentes struck out SEVEN hitters, and allowed just one baserunner. His impressive arsenal was on full display, attacking the strike zone with his mid 90's fastball, and generating some ugly swings on his filthy slider. All of his strikeouts were swinging until the final batter he faced when he locked up the batter with 97 mph heat to get the backwards K.
Fuentes was an IFA signing during the 2022 offseason (a class headlined by when he signed for just $75,000 out of Colombia. His athleticism and swing and miss stuff make him an intriguing prospect to watch in 2025 especially with that low release point of his. It will be curious to see if more advanced hitters continue to be put off by the unusual look Fuentes gives them.
Fuentes has spent each of the past two seasons at Augusta pitching for the GreenJackets as a teenager. Last season was an impressive campaign for Fuentes in which he threw 75.2 innings, and posted a 2.74 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 98 Ks.
It's likely Fuentes will pitch in High-A Rome for most of, if not all of the 2025 season. Should he continue to develop his third pitch (currently a splitter) and keep generating the same swing and miss numbers against stiffer competition this year, Fuentes could soar up all Braves' prospect list by mid-summer.