20-year-old Earns Braves Job with Insane Spring of 0.00 ERA, 17 K/9

It doesn't get more perfect than the spring that electrifying 20-year-old right-hander Didier Fuentes had for the Atlanta Braves. He posted a 0.00 ERA, a 0.00 WHIP, and a 17:0 strikeout to walk ratio in nine innings. Not bad for a kid just a few months out of his teenage years.

Didier Fuentes has made the Atlanta Braves’ Opening Day roster and at 20 years old will be part of their bullpen — and he earned it. Fuentes’ numbers this spring: nine innings, no hits, no runs, no walks, 17 strikeouts. He was too good for the Braves to deny and is a huge talent.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 21, 2026

Veteran Martin Perez was notified that he would not break camp with the big club, making room for Didier on the roster. He will start in the bullpen.

He had a rocky debut in the Braves' rotation last June, accumulating a 13.58 ERA in four starts. But again, he had just turned 20.

The Braves signed him as a 17-year-old out of Colombia for the bargain price of $75,000. He worked his way up last season from High-A to Triple-A. And at the highest minor league level, in five starts, he posted a 3.63 ERA with a crazy 29:4 strikeout to walk ratio in 22 innings.

Coming into the year as the Braves' No. 3 prospect, MLB Pipeline boasts about the unique characteristics of his fastball. "It has plenty of velocity, averaging over 95 mph and touching 98, but it plays up even more because of a really low release point and flat approach. Hitters just don’t see it or barrel it up, and he elicited a lot of swing-and-miss, as well as chase with the pitch."

He'll be eased in with bullpen duties, but we'll have to see if Fuentes eventually makes his way into the Braves' rotation.