Braves Report: Didier deserved better

Hey y’all.

We’ll talk about Didier Fuentes (and Ronald Acuña Jr.) in a moment, but I’m otherwise disinclined to relive Tuesday night’s debacle against the A’s.

Instead, let’s start with two links: Ken Sugiura’s look at why the Braves season still matters and Gabe Burns’ peek at what the trade deadline could hold.

Worth a read, if you can stand it.

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

If we’re gonna play in a minor league park, we need lower definition cameras, too. Sets the mood a little better.

📺 How to watch: First pitch from Sacramento arrives at 10:05 p.m. on FanDuel Sports.

⚾ The pitching matchup: Bryce Elder (2-6, 5.92) vs. Mitch Spence (2-4, 4.06)

📝 The scouting report: Spence, 27, started the season as a reliever before joining the rotation about a month ago. He’s lasted exactly five innings in all but one of his six starts.

Since his eight-inning gem on June 7, Elder has allowed at least four runs every time out.

COME ON, Y’ALL

Credit: Scott Marshall/AP

Credit: Scott Marshall/AP

Didier Fuentes is finally headed back to Triple-A today, after his latest disastrous outing ended in the second inning.

And I’ll say it: The Braves did him a little dirty.

The barely 20-year-old pitching prospect has stuff. He may well be a stud on the major league mound one day.

But he clearly wasn’t ready, and they kept on trotting him out there.

📉 In his four starts with the Braves, Fuentes allowed four, six, two and eight runs.

📉 That’s a total of 20 runs — not to mention 23 hits — in just 13 innings.

I (kind of) understood the initial call-up. Chris Sale cracks a rib, give the kid a taste and see what happens.

There’s even (sort of) a justification for Fuentes’ second start. Throw him out there again while you figure out a longer term solution to Spencer Schwellenbach’s absence.

But to pitch him twice more, when you have more experienced starters hanging around Gwinnett (including Nathan Wiles, who’s joining the big league club today)? And you’re, you know, desperate for wins?

There are no perfect answers. But that’s not fair to Fuentes.

ACUÑA AILING, TOO?

In case you (somehow) missed it: Ronald Acuña Jr. was a late scratch for last night’s game in Sacramento with “back tightness.” It popped up while he was lifting weights, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman.

Seems like a day-to-day thing, but no official update yet.

😬 Would be a major bummer (but perhaps a smart choice) if it ends up costing him a chance to participate in a hometown home run derby.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Credit: Tyler Estep/AJC

Credit: Tyler Estep/AJC

More to come tomorrow, but I just got out of a news conference tied to All-Star festivities — where I got an in-person peek at the jerseys players will wear during Monday’s home run derby. (Again, they’ll be wearing regular team jerseys for the actual All-Star Game).

Whatcha think?

THE OPENING ACT

Tuesday’s All-Star Game comes complete with pregame music, too. And you can expect some local flair.

MLB announced that hip-hop icons Jermaine Dupri and Ludacris will put on a show (bet you can guess one song they’ll play!) before country star Kane Brown performs “Georgia on My Mind” and the Zac Brown Band sings the national anthem.

Thanks for reading Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the AJC’s Sports Daily newsletter a shot, too.

Until next time.