4 Braves takeaways: Vibing after sweep of Mets, 20-year-old pitches Friday, Acuña feats, more

ATLANTA Eleven days ago, the Braves had stumbled through their second seven-game losing streak of the first half of the season and dropped a sixth consecutive series.

Now theyve won three series in a row and seven of their last nine games.

And four days after an embarrassing 10-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies, the Braves finished a series sweep of their NL East rival New York Mets, who came to Atlanta with the National Leagues best record, with a 7-1 win Thursday, Advertisement Spencer Strider pitched six strong innings, and Matt Olson broke things open with a three-run double to fuel Atlantas 26th win in 36 games against the Mets since 2022.

I feel like thats the closest weve been to playing just a complete series, said Strider, who had eight strikeouts with one walk.

We know what were capable of.

Speaking for myself, and Im sure for everybody else, its just reassuring to go out and have some justification for the work youve been doing and that belief that weve had this whole time that we can play better baseball.

Now the challenge is to continue to do it, obviously.

It doesnt get easier from here.

Atlanta still trails the Mets and now co-leading Philadelphia Phillies by 10 games in the East, but the Braves have regained momentum and have 10 more games against the Mets, including a four-game series that starts Monday at New York.

The last three series have been really good, and to cap it off with a (sweep) against the Mets is huge, said third baseman Austin Riley, who had one of the Braves season-high nine walks Thursday.

The biggest thing I hope we can take from this is just that we can compete with anybody.

I just hope we can take the confidence away from that and keep it rolling.

That was an unbelievable series.

The Braves are within five games of the third and final wild-card spot with 89 to go.

Ample time, if they can continue playing as they did during a 5-1 homestand when the Braves starting rotation looked as deep as any in the majors and the offense averaged more than 5 1/2 runs despite still having some glaring soft spots in the lineup.

After Chris Sales sensational 8 2/3 innings in Wednesdays 5-0 shutout, Strider came through with his second impressive start in a row.

After going 0-5 with a 5.40 ERA in his first starts while shaking off rust from a yearlong rehab for elbow surgery, and also a month sidelined by a hamstring strain, Strider is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA, 21 Ks and two walks in his last two starts.

Advertisement I kind of feel like our old selves again, Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

This was a really good series.

Did some things we hadnt been doing.

So, hopefully, thats the start of something really good that we continue to build on.

Fuentes to be youngest major leaguer The Braves are calling up Colombian prospect Didier Fuentes, who turned 20 on Tuesday, to start Fridays series opener at Miami after just six starts above Single A.

Its a spot start to allow other Braves to get extra rest before next weeks series at New York, and a good showing could put Fuentes in line for more chances this summer.

Reliever Jose Ruiz was designated for assignment to open a roster spot for Fuentes, who will be the first major leaguer born in 2005 and only current one under 21.

The 6-foot right-hander will be the third-youngest to pitch for the Braves in the teams Atlanta era since 1966.

The move will allow Spencer Schwellenbach, Sale and Strider to start on extra rest against the Mets.

Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder will start Saturday and Sunday at Miami.

Fuentes, who throws a fastball that reaches 97 mph and a slider, entered this spring ranked as the Braves No.

11 prospect by The Athletic s Keith Law and No.

7 by Baseball America.

But after drawing attention at spring training with seven strikeouts in three scoreless innings against Detroit Tigers prospects in the Spring Breakout game, Fuentes climbed to No.

3 in the Braves system according to FanGraphs, which has him 82nd overall in its top 100 prospects.

Not bad for a kid the Braves signed for $75,000 in 2022.

Didier Fuentes tossed a beaut in his Triple-A debut 4.2 IP | 3 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 0 BB | 6 SO pic.twitter.com/UxHp7tiLx1 Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) June 14, 2025 What has Snitker heard about Fuentes from Braves player development officials and minor-league staffers? Its just all really good stuff, Snitker said.

The guy throws strikes, and hes got a good fastball that plays.

It sounds like hes a kid thats kind of above his years, as far as maturity and (throwing) strikes and (his) stuff.

Advertisement Fuentes will be the youngest major-league starter since 2016, when the Los Angeles Dodgers Julio Urias pitched against the Phillies four days shy of his 20th birthday.

Fuentes has pitched in 37 games (33 starts) above rookie ball, including nine starts above Low A, all this season.

Hes 0-7 with a 4.81 ERA in those nine, but that line doesnt reflect how the Braves view his recent progress.

He began the season at High-A Rome and was promoted after three starts to Double-A Columbus, then promoted again after five starts there, which included a 2.57 ERA and .188 opponents average in his last three.

He continued to impress in his Triple-A debut Saturday, allowing three hits and one run with no walks and six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

Fuentes has 48 strikeouts with 12 walks and two homers in 39 1/3 innings this season.

Productive outs The Braves had five sacrifice flies in the first five games of the homestand, the most in the majors during that time.

This from a team that had just 12 sacrifice flies through June 12, the fewest in the majors.

They also had a majors-worst .267 average with a runner on third and less than two outs before this homestand.

They went 3-for-10 with a walk and those five sac flies on the homestand before Thursday, when the big blow in the game was Olsons bases-loaded double with one out in the sixth.

I feel really good about what weve been doing lately, Snitker said of situational improvement.

Its starting to come around with more than just one guy.

Its what weve been striving to do.

So, hopefully, were gonna get in a groove where were passing the baton and keeping the thing moving and being more like what were capable of.

Riley said of Atlantas offensive improvement, You go through periods where you put pressure on yourself and you want it so bad and then it just kind of spirals.

At some point, you just got to let it go, let the game come to you and relax.

And I think youre seeing that with some guys, and other guys are feeding off of it.

And youre able to move up and down the lineup, flip the lineup.

And our pitching has been great.

Advertisement Acuna first-pitch fury Ronald Acuna Jr.

homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning Wednesday off the Mets Paul Blackburn, his 36th leadoff homer to extend his Braves record.

It was Acunas 15th leadoff homer on the first pitch, the second-most in MLB history behind Hall of Famer Craig Biggios 19.

Since Acunas 2018 debut, only two others have double-digit leadoff homers: Jose Altuve (12) and Kyle Schwarber (11).

First pitch.

Ronald Acuna Jr.

was ready pic.twitter.com/bOFdUk70pY MLB (@MLB) June 18, 2025 Braves unafraid of aggressive promotions The Braves have long been willing to bring up young players sooner than many anticipated, ranging from 19-year-old center fielder Andruw Jones in 1996 to 20-year-old pitchers Michael Soroka (2018) and AJ Smith-Shawver (2023).

And it doesnt matter if theyre young or theyve been around a while, when they step on that major-league mound for the first time, you dont know what (will happen), Snitker said.

When I managed in Triple A, (former Braves GM John Schuerholz) would call down about bringing a guy up, and Id say, well, hes done everything he can do here.

I have no idea when you put him in that atmosphere in the major leagues whats going to happen.

You dont ever know.

Fuentes will be the youngest to pitch in any capacity for the Braves since Mike McQueen made his MLB debut for Atlanta in October 1969, barely a month past his 19th birthday.

The youngest Atlanta-era Braves pitcher was Charlie Vaughan, 18 years and 332 days old when he debuted with a start in September 1966.

Vaughan was the only major leaguer in 1966 who was younger than Mets rookie Nolan Ryan, who was 19 when he debuted that same month.

Vaughan pitched in just two MLB games, that start in 1966 and a relief appearance in June 1969.

(Photo of Spencer Strider: Edward M.

Pio Roda / Getty Images).

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