The Boston Red Sox are eyeing Saturday as Bello’s re-entry point, and interim manager Tracy named him among the options to start that day if Ranger Suarez is unable to take the mound due to the strained adductor muscle suffered in his most recent start. Whether Bello’s Saturday start happens in Worcester or at Citi Field in New York where the Red Sox will be taking on the Mets has yet to be definitively answered.
Bello was optioned to Triple-A Worcester on June 5, a day after he allowed eight earned runs over five innings against the Baltimore Orioles, six of them before he’d recorded a single out in the second. It was the low point of a season-long pattern.
Brayan Bello’s Numbers Tell Two Different Stories
GettyBrayan Bello #66 of the Boston Red Sox
“I don’t really know what’s going on,” Bello said following his disastrous June 4 outing, according to MLB.com‘s Ian Browne. “I think I have the same mentality, whether I’m starting or relieving. So, honestly, I don’t know.”
The results changed drastically depending on his role. Bello carried a 6.34 ERA over 61 innings as a starter, striking out hitters at a career-low 15.6 percent rate while giving up 1.48 home runs per nine innings, according to MLB Trade Rumors. In his eight starts before the demotion, his ERA in the opening inning alone sat at 16.88.
Deployed as a bulk reliever behind an opener, Bello turned into a different pitcher, posting a sparkling 0.71 ERA across 25â innings, according to MassLive. The Red Sox went 1-3 in those games regardless, but the split with his starter numbers was stark.
Left-handed hitters took a .323/.384/.554 line against Bello into his final start before the demotion, according to MLB Trade Rumors, a problem that has trailed him since his earliest big league seasons.
Worcester has offered something closer to the version of Bello Boston extended for $55 million two years ago. In four Triple-A starts spanning 18.2 innings, he posted a 4.34 ERA and a 1.99 FIP, with 10.6 strikeouts and just 1.9 walks per nine innings. He hasn’t allowed a home run in the minors.
Chad Tracy Weighs Boston’s Rotation Options
Tracy defended the decision to start Bello rather than lean on an opener before the disastrous Orioles outing ever happened.
“It just feels like for us to be successful, we need Bello to start,” Tracy said, according to MassLive. “We can beat a dead horse with this. We start him, but it doesn’t go well. The opener doesn’t do well. Why didn’t you open? It’s like, at the end of the day, we need this guy to pitch.”
Hours later, Bello was on his way to Worcester.
Bello threw his bullpen session in Worcester on Wednesday with Saturday as the target, and the Worcester Red Sox currently have no start scheduled for him this week, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive, leaving the door open for a Major League recall. Boston’s decision likely hinges on Suarez’s availability.
Whatever Boston decides, the underlying question hasn’t changed since Bello first got demoted. A pitcher who can dominate for 25 innings as a reliever and unravel in a first inning as a starter presents the kind of split that no lineup card fully explains, and Saturday may or may not settle it.
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