Prospect Didier Fuentes hit hard by Mets as Braves' pitching needs become more glaring

New York Times

3 days ago

NEW YORK — The good news is that the Braves fully expect Chris Sale, on the injured list with a fractured rib cage, to be back for the late-season stretch drive.
The bad news is that the Braves, if they don't trade for a proven starting pitcher sooner rather than later, might not be close enough in the standings for Sale's return to matter.
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The state of their injury-depleted starting rotation was laid bare Wednesday night at Citi Field, where 20-year-old Didier Fuentes got rocked by the New York Mets in his second major-league game.
The youngest player in the majors lasted 3 1/3 innings in a 7-3 loss to the Mets. Fuentes allowed eight hits and six runs with one strikeout.
He throws plenty hard — he averaged 96.2 mph on 46 fastballs Wednesday — and has a couple of pretty good breaking balls. But the command is lacking; he misses spots too often. And Fuentes' body language showed frustration as hits piled up Wednesday, when the average exit velocity on the fastballs was 96.8 mph.
That's a lot of baseballs hit mighty hard, including a waist-high full-count heater that Ronny Mauricio hit for a leadoff homer in the third inning and a belt-high first-pitch fastball that Juan Soto crushed for a leadoff homer in the fourth.
No. 18 for @JuanSoto25_ 🔥#VoteMets 🗳️👉 https://t.co/pvcqpJqQb7 pic.twitter.com/CJEbBG7NXv
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 26, 2025
Tough assignment for a 20-year-old with only seven starts above High-A ball, including his MLB debut at Miami.
'Yeah, it is real tough,' Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Fuentes facing the Mets at Citi Field, where they have the majors' best home record (28-12). 'I mean, you got to hit your spots and there's no room for error against a lineup like this, especially after they see him one time.
'He just kind of got some balls too much in the middle of the plate, and secondary stuff … just overall command wasn't great.'
Soto also homered in the seventh inning off lefty Austin Cox, a journeyman left-hander whose presence in the bullpen underscored a trade need there, as well. But for now, the trade priority list was presumably altered with Sale's injury, since it won't matter much if the Braves add a reliever if they don't also reinforce their rotation.
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The Braves trailed 7-1 before scoring a couple of runs in the ninth, at which point the Mets brought in closer Edwin Díaz to get the final out and quash any rally hopes. So, the Braves at least got the Mets to use their closer the night before the teams play the finale of this four-game series Thursday.
Fuentes is plenty talented and has a bright future, but it was readily apparent Wednesday that the Colombian right-hander should be back in the minor leagues continuing his development, rather than getting knocked around mercilessly by the Mets. Snitker said he had 'no idea' whether Fuentes would get another start or be sent down.
'It's about command,' Snitker said. 'It's not how hard you throw, it's where you throw it. He's a young kid that's gonna learn from every time he toes that thing, he's gonna learn something different.'
But considering where the Braves (37-42) are in the standings two games from the season's halfway point, they can't afford to be a training ground too many nights. Not for starting pitchers.
Whether the answer is to trade for a Charlie Morton now — he's 4-0 with a 2.90 ERA in his past six starts for Baltimore — or for a Zach Eflin or Merrill Kelly (if Arizona decides to sell) a little later, the Braves need to bring in a more experienced and reliable starter than what they have available and ready in the organization.
Hurston Waldrep, a 2023 first-round draft pick who debuted for Atlanta last season and had a 16.71 ERA in two major-league starts, has a 5.60 ERA in 14 starts this season at Triple-A Gwinnett. He has a 2.31 ERA in his past two starts with 10 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings, but had three walks in his last start and 12 walks in 17 innings over his past four.
Ian Anderson, waived by the Braves in April, struggled as a reliever with the Los Angeles Angels and was reclaimed off waivers by the Braves. He's back starting, but has an 8.53 ERA in his past five games at Gwinnett with 12 strikeouts and 19 walks in 19 innings.
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The Braves didn't add a starting pitcher last winter because Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said they had enough starters and didn't want to block the likes of Anderson, AJ Smith-Shawver and Grant Holmes by adding a starter and creating a logjam if no one got hurt.
Not when Spencer Strider was expected back from surgery rehab by late April to join the returning trio of Sale, Reynaldo López and Spencer Schwellenbach.
Well, Anderson was a walk-an-inning disappointment in spring training and was waived. López made one start March 28 before shoulder surgery. Smith-Shawver made nine starts before tearing his UCL and having Tommy John surgery.
Strider made one start, strained a hamstring and missed a month, and has only begun to pitch at a high level again in his past three starts. Sale was pitching like he might win a second consecutive Cy Young Award before fracturing his rib cage last week while making a diving defensive play in the ninth inning.
There's no timetable for López's return — assuming he makes it back this season — or for Sale, though Sale is traveling with the Braves and has been in uniform during games in Miami and New York on this trip, between sessions on the training table for treatment on what the 36-year-old lefty described as 'two small fractures' in his ribs.
'Yeah, he'll heal — eventually,' Snitker said Wednesday, when asked about Sale being in the clubhouse and training room at Citi Field in uniform. 'You're not gonna keep him out of a uniform. If he's gonna be here, he's going to be out here on the bench and with his teammates. That's just the guy he is.
'That's why I said a couple days ago, I love the fact he's here with us. He brings so much and can add so much even when he's where he's at right now. He's a huge part of the fabric of this team.'
He's also a huge part of any chance the Braves have of reeling in the four teams that are all three or more games ahead of them for the final wild-card spot. Not the wild-card lead, but the last of three wild-card spots.
The Braves are eighth in the NL wild-card standings, nine games behind the wild-card leading Mets and 3 1/2 behind the seventh-place wild-card team, Arizona.
In the NL East, the third-place Braves are going to need a lot of help from the first-place Phillies and Mets.
Atlanta won its first five games against the Mets this season before Wednesday, but one of those wins was pitched by Sale, who presumably won't be available for either series against the Mets in August. The Mets might've found ways to lose against the Braves and everyone else in the past two weeks, but they remain a formidable team.
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The Braves, as constituted, are a good team on the nights when Schwellenbach or Strider pitches — also often when Thursday starter Holmes pitches — and when they get good offense.
The other nights, it's anyone's guess whether they'll be competitive, at least until Sale returns or they trade for another starter, and probably some bullpen reinforcements. Never mind also needing another bat, the Braves should first add arms if they are serious about trying to earn an eighth consecutive postseason berth.