Braves Top-10 Prospect Achieves Rare Feat With Triple-A Promotion

A rising pitching propsect is heading to Triple-A, and he achieves a feat only matched by two current Atlanta Braves all-stars

Only two stars have done what he has with this call up | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Braves No. 10 prospect, Didier Fuentes has been promoted to Triple-A. His quick rise through the minor leagues continues after making just five starts in Double-A.

According to Gwinnett Stripers broadcaster Dave Lezotte, he is just the third teenager to play for the team. The 19-year-old prospect joins Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña Jr - both were also 19 - as the three to hold the honor. A quick rise might not be a good enough descriptor for his progression.

Fuentes gets the call-up despite being on the injured list. He last pitched May 24 and moved to the 7-day injured list May 27. For what it's worth, he was starting to pitch better ahead of that move to the IL. In his last three starts, he has a 2.57 ERA. He was starting to get a handle on Double-A pitching after a couple rough starts after his previous promotion from High-A.

In his most recent starts, he pitched four innings of one-run ball, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out nine. He was removed due to a blister, which explains the move to the injured list. Baseball Prospectus' Gaurav projected after that start that Fuentes could be the next player to become the Braves No. 1 prospect.

Didier Fuentes
4IP 1H 1ER 1BB 9K

Removed after 60 pitches due to a blister. Damn shame because he had 14 whiffs over 4 including his final 4 pitches. My likely next #1 prospect for the Braves pic.twitter.com/qbiZczMHeh

— Gaurav (@gvedak) May 25, 2025

Fuentes signed with the Braves out of Colombia for $75,000 during the 2022 international signing period. He spent the first season in the complex league before spending two seasons with Single-A Augusta.

Signs that a fast-forward in his movement through the minor leagues started with his dominant performance during the Spring Breakout in March. He took the mound for the final three innings of the game and shut down the Tigers prospect hitters. He pitched a scoreless outing allowing just one hit and no walks while striking out seven. 

19-year-old @Braves prospect Didier Fuentes claims the #SpringBreakout strikeout lead in dominant fashion 💎

3 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 0 BB | 7 K pic.twitter.com/5D1ZeSejBF

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 16, 2025

He had three starts in High-A along with his time in Double-A for a total of eight starts. He's already in Triple-A now getting there sooner than other top prospects ranked ahead of him, such as right-handers JR Ritchie and Garrett Baumann, both of whom started in High-A this season with Fuentes.

The Stripers' transaction page has him as activated, so we could be seeing his Triple-A debut soon.