The Atlanta Braves can’t be disappointed with how Tyler Mahle performed. A 1.99 ERA in 9 regular season starts, he should be regarded as one of the better trade deadline additions of any ball club. Add in just two earned runs in 13.1 innings spread across two postseason starts and Mahle is right there as one of the guys the Braves should look to move forward with. It’s a good thing he apparently has interest in staying put.
It was always certain the Braves would acquire a starting pitcher of some kind. If it was Tarik Skubal, maybe they’re still playing baseball.
The Braves were willing to give up an assortment of young talent for Skubal with one hard exception: Didier Fuentes. Fuentes was allegedly someone they weren’t willing to trade even for Skubal. Instead, he went to the Los Angeles Dodgers and helped defeat the Braves in the NLDS. What’s next for Atlanta? For starters, they need to have bigger plans for Fuentes.
Putting a lock on Didier Fuentes means the Braves need to move him to the rotation
Rather than let Fuentes have an up-and-down year in the rotation, the Braves chose a path of letting him face big league hitters on a more limited basis as a reliever. In 73.1 innings he had a 2.45 ERA with an exceptional 2.6 BB/9 and 11.3 K/9 rate.
Sure, having him pitch at a high level out of the bullpen has some reward. On a roster that’ll already have Robert Suarez under contract and maybe even yet another reunion with Raisel Iglesias, they have built-in closers for the immediate future. Just three saves and 12 games finished for Atlanta this past year, they could eventually make him their last of defense. In the meantime, they need to see what this 21-year-old stud can do as a starter again.
Most of Fuentes’ minor league career was spent as a starter, with most of the innings coming in Single-A. He actually did perform well as a starting pitcher in 8 Triple-A starts across two seasons. A 3.00 ERA overall and a near-mirror image 2.3 BB/9 and 11.3 K/9 that he posted in the big leagues in 2026 in relief — there's plenty of reason to believe he’s not finished yet starting games rather than helping finish them.
A reliever with closer potential at his age is valuable but also not the untouchable player you refrain from dealing to get the best player in the league. The Braves might have had the best chance at taking down the Los Angeles Dodgers this year. Mahle lost his well-pitched game to them while Skubal was victorious when he faced the Braves.
Ranked as the third-best Braves prospect by MLB Pipeline at the season’s start and the highest not within the top 100, the shift from starter to reliever in the majors was partly due to need and also how scared off they might’ve been from his 2025 showing. In 13 innings, Fuentes gave up 20 runs. This year, in his 73.1, he allowed 21 runs. Of them, 20 were earned.
A massive improvement, falling back on pitching in relief again is a card to play. First, they need to see if maybe they have a guy who needs to crawl before he learns to walk.
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