ESPN Reveals High Expectations for Braves Prospect Didier Fuentes

The Atlanta Braves see one of their top prospects garner further favorability in ESPN's latest rankings, being ranked higher than a usual name

Where they placed Fuentes stands out compared to other top-10 rankings | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

A certain continuity that has been seen with the Atlanta Braves' top prospects has been broken by ESPN’s recent rankings. Instead of the usual placement of Cam Caminiti and JR Ritchie in the top two, another arm has taken the place of the latter. 

Didier Fuentes, according to ESPN, is the Braves’ No. 2 prospect. Caminiti is still the top prospect, and Ritchie moves to No. 3. Most think highly of Fuentes’ potential, but this ranking took things a step further. 

Fuentes is also a top-100 prospect on ESPN’s list. This also goes against a major trend. The Braves have mostly had two players on top-100 lists, and The Athletic’s Keith Law only had one. Ritchie didn’t make the cut for that one, but he and Fuentes do for ESPN. 

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Let’s take a step back for a moment and remember that nothing is surprising about Fuentes being in the top 10. That’s where he was last season. MLB.com had him at No. 7 for 2025. His 2026 rankings are unknown. 

What is surprising is that he is now ahead of Ritchie, who was considered the Braves' top minor league player last season. The next likely player to reach the Majors is ranked lower on the list than he is anywhere else. He only moved down one spot, but it looked peculiar to see him move down. 

This isn’t meant to be a knock on Fuentes. One simply had a better year than the other, even when looking at performance in the minor leagues. 

That being said, we’ll see both of these arms in the majors this upcoming season. Ritchie will make his debut, and Fuentes should be making his return. It was a tough go-around his first time. He wasn’t ready, but he was thrust into the spotlight with injuries piling up. 

In four starts, he had a 13.85 ERA and a 2.23 WHIP across 13 innings pitched. By that point, most were wondering why the Braves were subjecting him to what he was going through. 

For what it’s worth, Fuentes showed some spark once he got back to Triple-A, but a shoulder injury took him out quickly after that. There was also a reason they turned to him. He had been a standout prospect whose stock was rising since Spring Training. 

So, while his placement in ESPN’s rankings seems slightly high compared to what we were expecting, that doesn’t mean expectations for him aren’t high overall. He’s a top-10 prospect for the team in general for a reason. Fuentes is expected to bring a solid fastball and slider combo to the table once he gets a better feel for his command. 

We saw that some more time in the minors helped Hurston Waldrep. The same can easily be the case for Fuentes.