After Spencer Strider suffered another devastating injury, the Atlanta Braves starting rotation is much thinner than the team would certainly hope at this point in the season. Outside of Chris Sale and a resurgent Bryce Elder, it's safe to say the final three spots in the rotation are making the organization uneasy.
Naturally, it might be tempting to move budding ace Didier Fuentes back into the rotation. After all, the soon-to-be 21-year-old has become one of Walt Weiss's most trusted arms in the bullpen. However, considering Fuentes's youth and how far the Braves are along in the 2026 season, it might be best to let Fuentes play out the rest of the season as a reliever.
Spencer Strider's injury shouldn't change Didier Fuentes's role on the Braves
JR Ritchie performed admirably in relief on Friday in relief, but his starts, along with Grant Holmes have been inconsistent this season. MartÃn Pérez is currently having his best season since his All-Star season in 2022, but his underlying metrics suggest some luck has been involved.
With Spencer Schwellenbach's 2026 season in question, and Hurston Waldrep still technically rehabbing, Fuentes does at first seem like the best alternative to enter the starting rotation, especially considering how dominant he's been out of the pen. Through 28 innings, Fuentes has a 2.25 ERA. However, as a reliever, the 20-year-old has a 1.08 ERA, which is the sixth-lowest in MLB among relievers.
The process to ramp Fuentes back up as a starter at this point in the season likely does not seem wise. Although Fuentes was used for multiple innings during the first month of the season, the righty has not exceeded 1.1 innings pitched in an outing since May 12. He's pitched one inning or fewer in 11 of his last 13 outings, and has been used exclusively in high-leverage in his last four outings.
In order for Fuentes to get stretched back out, the Braves would either need to schedule Fuentes to pitch multiple innings in certain games at the big league level or send him back to Triple-A, which would harm their bullpen.
Additionally, Fuentes has never pitched more than 75.2 innings in a single season. He's already set a career-high in games pitched. There's no doubt that Fuentes has already transformed himself into an impressive pitcher, but the Braves are certainly aware at some point they will need to be more cautious with his innings. Forcing him back into the rotation, even if that's where he'll succeed in the future, would be in opposition to protecting his arm down the stretch.
As tempting as it would be to see Fuentes succeed as a starter this season, the Braves have found a spot that works for their future ace, and it would not be worth disrupting that for what would likely only amount to a few starts.
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