ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 30: Atlanta pitcher Didier Fuentes (72) pitches during the Philadelphia Phillies versus the Atlanta Braves in game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series on September 29th, 2026 at Truist Park in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
(Of course, pending the existence of a 2027 season, after all…)
Alex Anthopoulos said a whole lotta nothing in his latest presser, though this isn’t really surprising considering A) his approach to press is “how do I divulge as little information as possible in as much time as possible” and B) the Braves haven’t done their post-season debriefs yet, so I’m not sure what there is to say, or why this presser even existed at this time.
Anyway, one of the things that did come out was that Didier Fuentes’ role was probably not going to be locked into “high leverage fireman” the way things played out in 2026. It was basically a season ago, but Fuentes didn’t actually start out being a pure-play reliever in 2026: he made the Opening Day roster, pitched a four-inning mop-up appearance following a Grant Holmes start (in the Braves’ first loss of the year), then went down and made three starts at Triple-A, then came up and had a three-inning start against the Nationals (7/1 K/BB ratio, but a homer allowed), and then settled into a high leverage multi-inning relief role afterwards. Actually, settled into is not great diction: he was pretty much thrown right into it. His first full-time relieving month was May, and by leverage, his 11 outings went:
almost high
high
low
almost medium
high
garbage time
almost medium
almost medium
almost high
high
almost medium
He finished that month second to Robert Suarez in average leverage when entering a game, though he took a step back on the totem pole a bit after that, until the post-Trade Deadline stretch run.
He also provided decent length. From May-on, after his dalliance with starting, 19 of his relief appearances were multi-inning — basically a third (37 outings of one inning or less). Add those up, and from May-onward, Fuentes:
Finished tenth in innings pitched among relievers
Finished 17th in batters faced among relievers
Finished tenth in fWAR among relievers (one of only three non-dedicated closers in the top ten)
Put up a 50/62/70 line, which was good for 22nd/20th/16th respectively among the 160 relievers with the most innings in that May-onward span.
But, just because of that demonstrated success doesn’t mean he’s definitely pigeonholed as a fireman from here on out. Similar production, or slightly worse production, over more innings would be of even bigger benefit to the club. At minimum, the Braves could try it, and move him back into a fireman role if they feel that’s warranted.
That said, I do think the Braves will give him a fair bit of rope as a starter for two dovetailing reasons. First, the Braves are not fans of engaging in the increasingly-bloated starting pitching market. Yes, there’s uncertainty about what the new Collective Bargaining Agreement does to the free agent market, but it’s hard to speculate what that’ll mean for the team’s approach, so I’m setting that aside. If the Braves have a goal of “go into Spring Training 2027 with n starter-ish guys,” then I fully anticipate them penciling Fuentes in as one of the n, reducing the need to go outside the organization by one guy. On the flip side, the Braves have had almost no compunction about spending on relievers, so if moving Fuentes to the “presumptive starter” column means they need to sign another reliever, including one that could be a good fireman (David Bednar, Jonathan Loiasiga, Adrian Morejon immediately come to mind), I can see that.
Anyway, I’ve blathered enough that it’s now 8:55 am and this post goes up at 9am, so have at it.