Braves Make Awaited Decision on Prospect Didier Fuentes

The Atlanta Braves made the move to bring Didier Fuentes back into the fray. They announced he has been recalled to the major league roster, and he will start Wednesday night's game against the Washington Nationals.

In a corresponding move, right-hander Ian Hamilton has been designated for assignment. Martín Pérez was originally penciled in to start on Wednesday. He will now pitch on Thursday, and Chris Sale will pitch Friday instead of Thursday. The rotation gets pushed back a day to give Fuentes the start.

Seeing Fuentes come back up to the majors was a matter of time. It seemed like it was becoming an inevitability the last few days. He was scratched from his start on Sunday in Gwinnett. He was to pitch in the series finale in Nashville against the Sounds.

He was declared a healthy scratch from the jump. Heading into Spencer Strider's rehab start last night, the Stripers hadn't peciled in any projected starters for the remainder of the week. Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shimp had done so.

It left the impression that nothing could be penciled in until the Braves made their final decision on the matter.

In three starts with Gwinnett, he pitched to a 2.16 ERA, a 0.84 WHIP and 20 strikeouts over 16 2/3 innings pitched. In his most recent start, he was streatch out to seven innings pitched in a game. The fastball had been touching 99 mph, and the slider

Fuentes was on the Braves' opening day roster, but it was clear from the jump that the intention was to start him in the majors, then move him back down to Triple-A. However, after the dominant spring he had, it was worth getting him some action when they needed a long reliever during the first series of the season.

After Grant Holmes gave the team five innings against the Royals on March 29, Fuentes gave the team the needed innings to take the pressure off the bullpen in a loss. He pitched four innings of one-run ball, while striking out four.

Overall, in spring training, he finished with a 0.66 ERA, a 0.22 WHIP and 18 strikeouts over 13 2/3 innings. At one point, he retired 27 consecutive batters.

The starting rotation is currently Chris Sale, Reynaldo López, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder and Martín Pérez. Strider has two rehab assignments under his belt. We'll see how Fuentes is able to force himself into the mix.

The Braves are set to play the Nationals on Wednesday for a 6:45 p.m. first pitch.

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