20-year-old Fuentes dazzles with stuff, poise in 'amazing' MLB debut

ATLANTA -- At 20 years old, Didier Fuentes has a Major League start under his belt.

Fuentes, rated Atlanta’s No. 10 prospect, made his MLB debut Friday night at loanDepot park in the Braves’ 6-2 loss to the Marlins. Fuentes allowed four runs (three on one swing) on six hits and one walk in five innings while striking out three.

Fuentes, who was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett earlier in the day, became the youngest MLB pitcher to start a game since Julio Urías with the Dodgers in 2019. He’s also the youngest Braves pitcher to toe the rubber since 1970.

Fuentes looked nervous to start -- as any 20-year-old making his first cameo in The Show would. As expected, he relied on his lively fastball, and though he missed the zone a few times early, Fuentes got out of the first inning in just four batters.

His first run came in the second, when Liam Hicks drove in Kyle Stowers with a one-out single to left-center. But Fuentes bounced back to retire consecutive batters via strikeout, fanning Heriberto Hernandez on a 3-2 fastball up in the zone to end the inning.

Fuentes got his first taste of Major League power in the third, when Agustín Ramírez hung three on the scoreboard with a homer to left.

But the Braves have raved about Fuentes’ maturity, and he flashed it in the fourth and fifth, collecting six outs on seven batters while getting Ramírez to line out after an eight-pitch battle to end the fifth. The pitch, Fuentes’ 87th of the night (58 of them strikes), ended his outing.

“I thought he was poised,” manager Brian Snitker said. “I’ll tell you what, that fastball at the bottom of the zone had some kind of life.

“He was really good. He wasn’t overwhelmed by anything. I was very impressed by the secondary stuff. The makeup, how he handled everything [was great]. It didn’t seem like he was amped up or reserved at all. This is an impressive kid, and the stuff is real.”

Fuentes had a youthful glow in his eyes and a bright smile across his face as he spoke with reporters postgame.

“I thought it was amazing that I was able to take the mound out there,” Fuentes said via a translator. “I just thank God that I was able to get this opportunity to come here and pitch. It was good to be out there and just to be able to give 100%.”

The occasion was a historic one both for Major League Baseball and for the Braves.

But its magnitude was greater for no one than Fuentes himself.

Fuentes, who turned 20 on Tuesday, took some time to take in the ballpark’s atmosphere before the game. The righty took pictures with his dad, Ramón, behind home plate. He took part in his first pregame autograph session. As happenstance would have it, his dad caught a foul ball just before his son took the mound.

According to Fuentes, it was the first time his dad had seen him pitch since he was “14 or 15” years old.

“To be able to see my dad’s dream come true,” Fuentes said, “being able to watch me pitch in the big leagues, I think that’s the big takeaway for me.”

Fuentes was born in Colombia in (don’t look millennials) 2005. He signed with the Braves as an international free agent for $75,000 in 2022, and he went a combined 4-11 with a 4.08 ERA through his first three seasons.

But in 2025, Fuentes torpedoed through the Minor League ranks. He made three High-A starts and five Double-A ones, and after just one appearance for Triple-A Gwinnett, Atlanta felt he was ready for a Major League look.

Fuentes will likely be sent back down to Triple-A following his start, as the Braves have indicated their desire to give starters Spencer Schwellenbach, Chris Sale and Spencer Strider extra rest ahead of their pivotal series with the Mets that begins Monday. Grant Holmes, who was originally scheduled to throw Friday, will now start Saturday.

That allows Schwellenbach to open the series against New York.

Fuentes’ trajectory from the Minors to Majors mirrors Schwellenbach’s. Atlanta has been known to promote top arms quickly through their ranks, as Fuentes marks the fifth straight pitcher to debut for the Braves in the same season that he began with a Single- or High-A affiliate. The streak started with Strider in 2021.

Strider and Schwellenbach are now immovable parts of the squad’s rotation.

Fuentes is hoping to follow that trend in the future.