It has been confirmed—that Didier Fuentes is being promoted to the Atlanta Braves. The 20-year-old right-handed pitcher from Tolu, Colombia, who just celebrated his birthday earlier this week, is set to make history as one of the youngest pitchers to debut in Major League Baseball in recent memory.
Fuentes will become the youngest MLB pitcher to debut since Elvis Luciano took the mound as a 19-year-old in 2019. Since 2010, only one pitcher—Julio Urías, who debuted in 2016 at age 19—has reached the majors at a younger age than Fuentes. Notably, Fuentes will also become the youngest Colombian pitcher to debut in MLB history.
The young phenom’s rise to the big leagues has been nothing short of meteoric. He ended the 2024 season in Single-A Augusta, where he posted an impressive 2.74 ERA over 75 2/3 innings, striking out 98 batters. He began the 2025 season with High-A Rome, recording a 5.54 ERA and 18 strikeouts over 13 innings. A quick promotion to Double-A Columbus followed, where he pitched to a 4.98 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings.
Just this past week, Fuentes made his Triple-A debut with Gwinnett. In his lone start, he pitched 4 2/3 innings, struck out six, and allowed just one run and three hits.
Climbing four levels in less than a year is an incredibly rare feat. To reach the majors just after turning 20 is even more extraordinary. In fact, since 2006, only two right-handed pitchers have started an MLB game at Fuentes’ age: Didier Fuentes and Félix Hernández—one of the greatest Venezuelan pitchers of all time. Over the past 40 years, they are the only Latino right-handers to make a start at such a young age.
A historic debut is now just a day away for the Braves’ rising star. Fuentes will start on the mound for the Braves against the Miami Marlins on Friday, June 20, 2025.
This news also carries major implications for Colombia’s roster at the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Fuentes is expected to anchor the rotation alongside veteran José Quintana. Facing MLB hitters at this stage of his career will only accelerate his development and prepare him to shine on one of baseball’s biggest international stages. With Fuentes and Quintana leading the way, Colombia will look to make history of its own in 2026.
WBN MLB: https://worldbaseball.com/league/mlb/
