The Braves made a significant roster move Monday morning.
Left-handed pitcher Martín Pérez was selected to the major league roster from Triple-A Gwinnett and replaces right-hander Didier Fuentes, who was optioned to Triple-A following Sunday’s loss to the Royals.
Pérez pitched in four games, including one start, for the Braves during spring training. He logged 12⅔ innings and was charged with four earned runs on 13 hits and three walks.
The Braves could tab Pérez to start Tuesday’s game against the A’s. José Suarez could be an option to start that matchup, as well.
“Still TBD,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said Sunday, “but yeah, the options are getting limited. But still TBD as we sit here.”
Fuentes pitched the final four innings in Sunday’s loss. He retired the first six batters he faced, gave up a walk, single and RBI sac fly in the eighth. Fuentes allowed a two-out single in the ninth but nothing more.
The 20-year-old Fuentes impressed in spring training by throwing 13⅔ innings and striking out 18 while allowing just one run and only two hits. But the plan all along has to been to stretch the young right-hander’s arm out so he can possibly join the starting rotation later this summer.
“(Putting him in the bullpen) was just the plan early on here because of the 13 straight games, and he wasn’t completely stretched out, so we didn’t want to give him a start yet,” Weiss said. “So that was the plan with him, to have him here, and whenever we used him to give our bullpen a day off, and that’s exactly what happened. And at the same time, he got stretched out a little bit, and he’s a little closer to being fully stretched out as a starter.”
Pérez, who turns 35 on Saturday, has spent 14 seasons in the big leagues and has a 4.41 ERA over 325 games.
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