When will Braves call upon their top prospects?

Teams don’t typically start 15–7, five games clear of the rest of the division, without a few pleasant surprises. For the Braves, that’s been the starting rotation.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos was hammered all offseason for not adding to the group — some of which he brought on himself. At the end of last season, he made it very clear Atlanta’s top priority was to bring in another starting arm, preferably a frontline guy. They didn’t. Then, just months before Opening Day, three of their best rotation pieces hit the IL.

It looked grim heading into the season. Instead, through the first three-plus weeks, nobody’s rotation has been better than Atlanta’s, with guys like Martín Pérez, Grant Holmes, and Bryce Elder carrying the load.

But the Braves’ pitching success isn’t limited to the big-league club. Two of their top prospects are looking every bit like future stars down in Gwinnett, and that continued over the weekend. JR Ritchie spun six scoreless innings for the Stripers, lowering his ERA to a ridiculous 0.99 through five starts, along with a 1.024 WHIP and 9.2 K/9.

Right alongside him, Didier Fuentes has been outstanding since returning to the farm. In three starts, he’s striking out nearly 11 batters per nine innings while posting a 2.16 ERA and a microscopic 0.840 WHIP. He also made an early-season appearance out of Atlanta’s bullpen, tossing four innings in relief of Grant Holmes and allowing just one run.

Both have done everything they can to earn a shot in Atlanta, and that opportunity could come at any moment. But with the rotation performing the way it has — and with Spencer Strider expected back in the coming weeks — the need to rush them has subsided considerably compared to the beginning of the season.

That won’t last forever. At some point — and probably sooner rather than later — the Braves are going to need them. Injuries are inevitable over 162 games, and there’s also the reality that what this rotation is doing right now just isn’t sustainable.

Bryce Elder, as encouraging as the adjustments have been, isn’t the next Greg Maddux. Martín Pérez probably isn’t turning back the clock into an All-Star. And both Grant Holmes and Reynaldo López have peripherals that hint at regression coming.

Each of their stories to begin the season has been unexpected, but overlooking the fair bit of luck involved would be negligent. This is still a rotation that needs to be upgraded considerably before the end of the season if the Braves are going to make real noise in October — and at least one of those upgrades has the potential to come from within.