No matter whether you’re a garbage truck driver, Wall Street banker, or minor league baseball player, earning a promotion at your job can be tough work. So with us almost already at the 20% complete mark of the season, it’s worth noting which players are seeing bumps in levels – and more importantly, why they’re climbing the proverbial “corporate ladder”.

See, not all players are promoted simply due to performance. Sometimes factors such as roster construction or injuries play a part; other times it’s simply to keep them away from an unfavorable home park due to extreme pro-pitcher or pro-hitter aspects like dimensions or altitude.

But sometimes, the reverse happens where a player who doesn’t on the surface seem quite ready for the challenge is promoted seemingly ahead of schedule. That’s why it caught my eye when Atlanta Braves’ righty Didier Fuentes was promoted to Double-A after just 13 career innings at High-A – all of which came this year. Oh yeah and did I mention he’s not yet 20 years old?

Though he’s posted a 6.97 ERA and 1.35 WHIP on the season thus far, the Braves clearly saw something in their scouting that I couldn’t and that’s worth remembering here. Though I do my best to scour the statlines to see what visual scouting sometimes doesn’t, that scouting skillset is an integral part of the process and should be paid just as much (if not more) attention to. If you won’t take my word for it, here’s a sampling from FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen on Fuentes after having reviewed his early season performance;

Fuentes is still a two-pitch guy and his slider isn’t consistently good yet, but his fastball is going to carry him to a meaningful big league role as a starter, much like Bryce Miller or Joe Ryan. Given the Braves’ penchant for pushing their good prospects, there’s a chance Fuentes keeps climbing and gets moved to Triple-A if he pitches well at Columbus in May. He’s officially a Top 100 prospect and a potential mid-rotation weapon.

Though he won’t get a write-up done below, make sure to take a look to see if Fuentes is still available in your leagues – he’s worth an addition now before the stats catch up to the scouting!

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