Ramon Fuentes is having himself a day for the ages.
Not only did he hop on a last-minute flight from Colombia to Miami to watch his son, Didier, make his MLB debut, but he managed to catch a foul ball in the stands at LoanDepot Park.
In fact, Ramon made the snag in the top of the first inning, getting his hands on a live MLB ball before his son did so a half-inning later.
The moment came with two outs in the top of the first, when Austin Riley lifted a two-out fastball from Marlins starter Janson Junk high above the first base line.
The ball bounced, caromed off the netting and dropped right into the hands of Ramon, who made the barehanded grab.
“In your first day here you get a foul ball in a game that your son is pitching? There are people that’ll tell you about going to big league ball games for 30, 40 years and never getting a foul ball,” analyst C.J. Nitkowski said on the Braves’ FanDuel Sports Network broadcast. “Let’s hope that is a sign of good things to come tonight.”
Didier’s start didn’t go quite the way he or Ramon had hoped — the righty went five innings, but he gave up four earned runs and six hits in an eventual 6-2 loss to Miami.
Didier is ranked as the 10th-best prospect in the Braves organization by MLB.com, and he became the youngest active player in the majors, the youngest Atlanta starter since 1969 and MLB’s youngest starting pitcher since Julio Urías made his debut with the Dodgers in August 2016.
He turned 20 years old just three days before making his MLB debut.
The Tolu, Colombia native has posted a 4.81 ERA across nine starts at three minor league levels this season before getting called up to the Braves and earning the starting nod for Friday’s game.
Loss aside, the debut was surely a special moment for Didier and the ultimate late Father’s Day gift for Ramon, with the foul ball souvenir as the cherry on top.
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