Braves make massive Opening Day roster decision on 20-year-old top pitching prospect

The Atlanta Braves have a fantastic starting rotation, that is, if injuries didn't completely derail the rotation already before the season has even begun.

With a weaker rotation at the start of the season, the Braves will need their bullpen to pick up the slack. And with more emphasis on the bullpen, the Braves are bringing a top pitching prospect up to the Majors this year for some key insurance.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Braves have decided to bring top prospect Didier Fuentes up to the Major Leagues to begin the year. Fuentes has made the Opening Day roster and will factor into the Atlanta bullpen to begin the year.

Braves make huge Didier Fuentes Opening Day roster decision

"Didier Fuentes has made the Atlanta Braves' Opening Day roster and at 20 years will be part of their bullpen, and he earned it," Passan reports.

Fuentes will join the Braves bullpen alongside Robert Suarez, Raisel Iglesias, Dylan Lee, Tyler Kinley, Aaron Bummer, Joel Payamps, and Jose Suarez.

It's a strong bullpen, and with Fuentes, there's a very intriguing ceiling being created with the top prospect getting a chance to make an impact in the Majors.

As Passan noted, Fuentes earned this Opening Day roster spot. The 20-year-old righty had a ridiculously good spring training.

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Across three appearances, Fuentes went 9.0 innings with a ridiculous 0.00 ERA and 0.00 WHIP with 17 strikeouts. He had a no-hitter this spring, which would've been a perfect game had it not been for one hit-by-pitch.

Fuentes had already made the Majors last year for the Braves, but he posted a 13.85 ERA across four games and four starts. But now, he will be a reliever for Atlanta, and could be in store for a much more impactful season for the Braves.

This spring production is the best he's ever pitched, and there's plenty of reason to be optimistic that Fuentes can carry that production over to the Majors. He's already shown such great ability this spring, and against Major League-caliber talent as well.

Thanks to a shaky rotation, Fuentes and the Braves' bullpen will have a lot of weight on their shoulders to begin the year while the injured starters recover from their injuries.

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