Bello's continued scuffles compound Boston's thin rotation

TORONTO -- Brayan Bello looked to have found a solution to his 2026 struggles early in Wednesday’s start against the Blue Jays, but the end result will send the right-hander and the Red Sox back to the drawing board.

Even with interim manager Chad Tracy planning to be aggressive with his bullpen in the series finale north of the border, Bello’s day ended earlier than Boston was hoping. The 26-year-old could not complete the fourth inning as the Red Sox eventually fell, 8-1, to the Blue Jays.

Battling through a slow start to the year after a bounce-back 2025, things snowballed on Bello after two scoreless frames. He was charged with four runs over 3 2/3 innings of work -- three of which came during a messy third -- while striking out two and walking two.

“He looked great early,” Tracy said postgame. “[He] attacked the zone, [was] in the zone. A lot of weak contact. And then, in the third … started to nibble a bit when guys got on, and we got into a tight spot.”

Although he retired two of the first three batters of that third inning, the Blue Jays lined three consecutive singles against Bello to rally with two outs. The last of those came from Kazuma Okamoto, whose 108.2 mph single came with the bases loaded and scored two. Then, after a Bello walk filled the bases again, Yohendrick Pinango brought home another with a single of his own.

It was Roman Anthony who helped the Red Sox escape the frame on Pinango’s hit, tossing a strike to the plate to keep Okamoto from scoring on the play. It was Anthony’s second straight game with an outfield assist.

The fourth played out similarly, as Bello got two quick outs before walking Brandon Valenzuela -- Toronto’s No. 9 hitter -- prompting Tracy to make an early call to the bullpen after 63 pitches. Bello was visibly frustrated handing the ball over, shaking his head as Tracy made his way out to the mound.

But the Red Sox and Bello didn’t make much of the display, and it was something pitching coach Andrew Bailey called a “heat of the moment” reaction.

Bello did later acknowledge that he thought he should have stayed in the game.

“Obviously, I was upset,” Bello said through Red Sox interpreter Carlos Villoria-Benítez. “I haven’t been able to pitch well in the past few starts. I haven’t been able to pitch deep into the games. That’s what I want [to do], and today, it went that way, as well.”

To make matters worse, Greg Weissert surrendered a two-run homer just three pitches after Bello exited.

Bello mixed in six pitches on the afternoon, primarily attacking the Blue Jays with his sinker -- as he has done all year. But when he needed to put hitters away in big spots, he couldn’t sneak much past Toronto, generating just one whiff on 28 swings.

It all compounded Bello’s run of early-season struggles with the Red Sox. He has completed five innings just once through six starts, pitching to a 9.12 ERA while striking out 17 hitters and walking 15.

“[I’m] a little bit frustrated because I do really work very hard between starts to pitch well on my start days,” Bello said. “It seems like they can hit me easily, and sometimes I get in trouble with walks. So obviously, a little frustrated for this stretch, it’s not an easy one. But the good thing is I get to get back to work tomorrow and focus on the next start.”

The Red Sox will hope to see a turn in Bello’s results, as they are in a tough position with their rotation after losing Garrett Crochet to the 15-day injured list earlier Wednesday, putting further stress on a rotation operating without Sonny Gray, Patrick Sandoval, Kutter Crawford and Johan Oviedo.

Despite the bloated numbers as the calendar approaches May, Boston will count on Bello to find the form he flashed through the middle months of 2025. From May 28 to the end of August, Bello carried a 2.62 ERA while holding hitters to a .216 batting average.

“We have a lot of confidence in Brayan,” Bailey said. “He’s working through it right now. He struggled a little bit out of the gates last season. And I think [from] the middle of May on, he was one of the best pitchers in baseball. There’s still a lot of talent there, and we just have to work through some things.”