BOSTON -- The Brayan Bello saga, one of the most confounding storylines for the Red Sox this season, took a sharp detour following the righty’s latest mound mishap on Thursday afternoon at Fenway Park.
After Bello was charged with eight earned runs (six of them in the first inning) in an 8-2 loss to the Orioles, he was optioned to Triple-A Worcester, according to a source. Lefty Joe La Sorsa, acquired for cash considerations from the Pirates on Thursday, is expected to replace Bello on the roster for the series opener in New York on Friday.
The Red Sox will need to call up a starting pitcher or add one from outside the organization by Tuesday, which would have been Bello’s next turn to pitch.
Lefty Jake Bennett, who has pitched well at Worcester (3-2, 1.60 ERA in nine starts) and filled in for two turns in Boston’s rotation earlier in the season, is probably the leading internal candidate.
With Bello, who is 1-6 with a 10.35 ERA when used as a starter this season, the Sox had reached the point of no return.
Now, the club hopes he can fix his issues – most notably his problems in the first inning – in a more relaxed environment in the Minors in which the results won’t impact the Major League club. In Bello’s eight starts, he has a 16.88 ERA in the opening frame.
To recap, this has been the pattern for the last month or so.
Option A, most frequently used; The Sox put an opener in front of Belllo. Said opener gives up a run or more to put the team in a hole. Bello comes in and performs well (0.71 ERA in four relief appearances).
Option B: Bello, coming off a brilliant bulk-inning performance, gets another chance to start. It goes horribly off track, sending the coaching staff back to the drawing board.
Coming off seven scoreless innings of relief last Friday in Cleveland -- when Bello took the ball with his team already down four runs -- the time seemed right to go back to Option B.
Things went off the rails fast, as Bello threw 40 pitches in the first inning as the Fenway Park woes continued for the Red Sox, who have the worst home record in the Majors at 10-21. Boston hasn’t won a series at home – or back-to-back games in front of the Fenway faithful – in nearly two months.
While that is a story unto itself, the enigma that has become Bello was the unfortunate headliner on getaway day.
After the game, Bello was asked about the possibility of being optioned to Triple-A. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t like the sound of it.
“I'm not thinking about that,” Bello said. “I'm thinking about making my adjustments in the big leagues. I have a big league contract. That doesn't mean that the bosses will take or not take that into consideration, but I'm a big leaguer. I'm a big league starting pitcher, and I'll make my adjustments here.”
The Red Sox, not long after, decided otherwise.
It would have been hard to imagine the situation coming to this when Bello signed a six-year, $55 million contract extension in March 2024, and started Opening Day in Seattle a couple of weeks later.
Even last season, this development would have been hard to imagine, as Bello went 11-9 with a career-low 3.35 ERA and provided good support behind ace Garrett Crochet.
While Crochet remains on the 15-day injured list as he builds back from left shoulder issues and recovers from a nagging left lat injury, the rest of Boston’s rotation has pitched well, aside from Bello. Rookies Payton Tolle and Connelly Early have stood out. Offseason acquisitions Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez have done what the club expected.
The Bello situation has thrown everyone for a loop, including the pitcher himself. At an age many pitchers peak with performance, the 27-year-old Bello has gone the other way.
“I feel very good with the pitches, and also I feel healthy,” Bello said. “I'm super healthy. Nothing is wrong with me. So I feel like the execution hasn't been there.”
The postgame tenor was far different than in the morning hours. Coming off that performance in Cleveland that was Bello’s sharpest of the season, there was some optimism entering Thursday.
“It just feels like for us to be successful, we need Bello to start,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said prior to the game. “We’ve beat a dead horse with this. Like, we start him, it doesn't go well. The opener doesn't do well. ‘Why did you open?’ At the end of the day, we need this guy to pitch.”
For now, Bello will pitch for Worcester and try to punch his ticket back to Boston.