Dynasty player of 10+ years. Helping you find the building blocks of your championship rosters as a co-host on the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast since mid-season 2023, joined Prospects Live at the start of 2024.
Hello and welcome to the Dynasty Baseball Pickups written series! So far this year, I have mostly avoided repeating my recommendations from last year. However, this week, I have one such repeat recommendation who caught everyone’s attention after getting the call to the bigs earlier this week, as well as an outfielder who is caught in one of the deepest logjams across all of baseball, a pair of complex league hitters, and a young arm getting some recent love around Prospects Live. Now let's get into it.
*Note: all stats current through Friday, June 20/25 and all minor league Statcast data is sourced from TJ Stats unless otherwise stated
What a week for Didier Fuentes - last weekend, he joined Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies as only the third 19-year-old (and first teenage pitcher) to play for Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett; he then celebrated his 20th birthday on Tuesday and was promptly promoted for his big league debut on Friday. It was a reasonably strong start dampened by a three-run blast, but there were many encouraging signs to come out of the debut. His fastball, in particular, looked good, and his 66.7% strike% shows me he wasn’t intimidated by big league hitting.
When I recommended Fuentes at the end of last season, his fastball and breaking ball already graded out favorably, but they ticked up, and he ended up hitting 95 mph. As you can see in the graphic above, he is now averaging more than 96 mph while producing strong IVB, considering his low release height.
Why to Think Twice
Fuentes is still a touch on the small side; that hasn’t changed from last year, but with his stuff ticking up like it has, that might not matter. What might matter is the fact that he still needs a more viable third offering to round out his arsenal, and he still isn’t getting enough ground balls with just a 33.3% GB% in the minors this year; thankfully, he is doing a much better job limiting the long ball than he has in previous seasons, even though that is what bit him in his big league debut.
Final Thoughts
I also wrote up the fantasy spin for Fuentes in this year’s Top 20 Atlanta Braves Prospects article and mentioned that he needed to improve his changeup/splitter but that there was plenty of time left for that development. Little did I know the Braves would put him on a rocket ship up through their system that would land in Atlanta by mid-June. Lucas Morel called Fuentes “one to watch” in his most recent Diamond Diplomas article, noting that Fuentes’ expected numbers and peripherals in the minors had looked better than his surface-level stats, particularly the ERA, and said that Fuentes should be picked up immediately in dynasty leagues. I don’t think even Lucas could have predicted a call to the bigs this quickly, but I agree that Fuentes is a must-add. I grabbed every available share I could over the weekend, and with his call to the bigs, there might not be many shares left out there in Dynasty. Still, he needs to be rostered in virtually all Dynasty leagues now that he will be making an impact at the big league level. I wouldn’t grab him in redraft just yet, but the fact that Chris Sale just went down with a rib injury means Fuentes may get a few more times through the rotation to prove what he’s got.
Where to pick up: Leagues with 100+ prospects rostered
FAAB bid: Minimal (0-5%)
Sign up for Prospects Live
Your one stop shop for Dynasty Fantasy Baseball, MLB Draft, Baseball Card & MiLB Baseball content. Blending Data & Scouting into our Player Evaluation
Dynasty player of 10+ years. Helping you find the building blocks of your championship rosters as a co-host on the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast since mid-season 2023, joined Prospects Live at the start of 2024.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
